Trump Demands U.S.-Made iPhones, but Experts Say It’s Unworkable:

Suspense crime, Digital Desk : Once more, Donald Trump is making an appeal to Apple and Samsung to relocate their mobile phone manufacturing plants to the US. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that every iPhone sold in the US must be produced in the country, or else it will incur a 25% import tariff. He stressed that Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, was informed of this demand a long time ago.

Why Apple Cannot Easily Shift Production To The US

Experts argue that, despite the political heat, shifting iPhone production to the US is not a reasonable option. Over 80% of Apple’s devices are manufactured in China, and the company’s current operational infrastructure’s backbone is Apple’s supply chain. Foxconn, one of Apple’s primary partners, is able to quickly add to his staff and expand the available logistics services—things that don’t exist in the States.

Costs of Labor and Size Make Production in the US Expensive

Apple’s pricing model relies heavily on China’s more affordable labor market. For instance, a Foxconn employee gets paid $3.63 per hour, while the lowest wage in California is $16.50. These differences, paired with mentally constraining policies, would increase the cost of constructing an iPhone in America, along with many other regulations.

Lack Of Skilled Workers In America

Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, highlighted the lack of sufficient tooling engineers in the U.S. The engineers are integral in transitioning a design into a physical product. They can fill an entire stadium in China compared to a small room in the U.S. Because of this, it is particularly challenging to strive for localized manufacturing of iPhones.

Even if the final assembly was relocated to the U.S, most components would still have to be imported. These include the displays that come from South Korea, chips from Taiwan's TSMC, and China’s other crucial components. If high tariffs were placed on these components, it is likely that iPhones would be unfeasible without government expenditures.

Trump’s earlier attempts to push electronics manufacturing in the U.S. to Foxconn’s 10 billion dollar Wisconsin project failed miserably, when he estimated that around 13,000 jobs were projected. But only 1400 jobs were created. Meanwhile the attempt to produce iPhones in Brazil was scrapped by apple as all they did was incur a ton of costs along with imported components.

Tim Cook’s Strategy: Invest Locally, Manufacture Globally

As of now, Tim Cook has been quite evasive when it comes to making any solid commitments about production of iPhones in the U.S. Apple does spend “some” money in these areas, having put approximately $500 billion into tech and AI development in the United States, while also Texas assembling some Mac Pro units. These moves allow Apple to gain tariff exemption while still retaining their manufacturing internationally.

India’s Role in Apple’s Supply Chain

The growing dependence on India for the final assembly of the iPhones is largely due to tariff policies as well as the need to expand into untapped markets. Even so, the majority of operations in Indian factories are assembly line jobs and the more important parts are still manufactured in various parts of Asia and shipped to the cites. This helps Apple fulfill local content requirements and qualify for reduction of American taxes, but does very little to decrease reliance on China.

The Bottom Line

Having to complete the entire manufacturing process of iPhones in the U.S would require a significant amount of spending in labor, infrastructure, and supply chains. If this were to happen, the end result would be the phones being sold at impossibly high rates. While gaining a U.S. based iPhone may seem appealing from a political standpoint, the economic and logistical realities makes it impossible to consider for now.