Apple is still looking for how to reduce its dependence on China. In a recent conversation with investors, Tim Cook confirmed that most iPhone that will be sold in the United States in the coming months will be manufactured in India. It is another step in the diversification process that the company has initiated silently, but that already gives results: half of its iPhone for the US market already leave factories in the country led by Narendra Modi.
But the strategy has not been well received on all fronts. During a public intervention in Qatar, within the framework of his Middle East tour, the US president said he had “a small problem with Tim Cook”. His words, recorded on video and available on YouTube, showed a clear discomfort with the direction that Apple has taken. According to his own testimony, I would have told the company’s CEO: “You will invest 500,000 million, but now I find out that you are building throughout India. I don’t want you to build in India.”
The president went further at his presentation. He said that, after years of accepting that Apple built factories in China, now the expectation is that this production is transferred to American soil. “We want you to build here. We are not interested that you continue expanding in India, ”he said in a direct tone that he can mark a new stage in the relationship between the new administration and the Cupertino company, which, by the way, is one of the largest in the world for stock capitalization.
What is not clear, at least for now, is whether this gesture will have an impact on Apple’s industrial diversification strategy. The company continues to produce most of its iPhone in China, and currently does not manufacture smartphones in the United States.
According to the analyst Dan Iives, of Wedbush Securities, moving all the production to Apple’s country would be prohibitive for both the company and consumers. In other statements collected by The Guardian, Evercore experts also indicated that the US economy “is not prepared” to set up a mobile production chain: neither has the infrastructure nor has it or has The necessary specialized labor.
The commercial board moves (again)
In parallel to the tension between Apple and the Executive, the international commercial environment has been altered by the reciprocal tariff regime announced by the US administration on April 2. This framework imposed new levies for imports from several countries, and came to place tariffs on Chinese products by 145%. However, that regime is currently suspended.
After an advance in negotiations between Washington and Beijing, both governments agreed a 90 -day break in additional tariffs. During that time, a 30 % base rate On imports from China, even superior to that applied to other countries such as India or Vietnam, which pay 10 % under the same pause.
Will this relieve the pressure that pushes many multinationals to accelerate the transfer of their supply chains outside of China? Commercial thaw opens a window of opportunity, but also adds uncertainty. Will technological technological ones continue, or will they wait to see how an increasingly volatile scenario evolves? Apple, in particular, must carefully measure your next steps.
Images | The White House | Wei view | Apple
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