Apple flew up to 1,500,000 iPhones to the US in an attempt to beat Donald Trump’s tariffs that could more than triple the price of each device.
Currently, 80% of iPhones are manufactured in China, which Trump has just hit with a 125% tariff for imports into the US.
With devices at risk of surging in price, the tech company has chartered at least six cargo jets, carrying 100 tons of iPhones each, from India to the USA since March.
Rather than taking 30 hours to pass customs in Chennai airport, Apple has convinced authorities to process exports in just six.
It’s testament to how little time is on hand, and how much money is at stake when Trump’s tariffs on the main manufacturer of iPhones – China – could hike the price of each device higher than £2,700.
China has hit US imports with an 84% tariff in retaliation for a 125% rate Trump whacked on imports from China this week.
Both countries have been caught in an escalating tit-for-tat since Trump increased tariffs on almost every country on what he dubbed ‘Liberation Day’.
This emerging trade war has threatened the supply lines of companies like tech giant Apple, which manufactures 80% of iPhones in China.
But Apple found a workaround – India, where currently only one in 10 iPhones are made.
Already hit by a much lower tariff of 26%, India’s rate was slashed to 10% when Trump announced a 90-day pause in the tariff hikes on Wednesday.
That means it’s far cheaper to produce goods India for export to the US instead of doing it in China, which Trump excluded for ‘the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets’.
‘Do not retaliate and you will be rewarded’, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said outside the White House.
The pause was declared after 75 countries approached the US for trade negotiations, Trump said.
But there is no guarantee the 90-day pause will last for 90 days – Trump had dismissed news of the plans as ‘fake news’ only a day before.
China does not appear interested in bargaining, as some other countries have started doing.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian saying: ‘If the US truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit.’
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