Apple reportedly rushed 600 tons of iPhones into the US from India simply earlier than President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imports from the nation. That is apparently a part of the Mac-maker stockpiling merchandise within the U.S. so it isn’t compelled to lift iPhone costs to pay for Trump’s taxes.
Whereas there was no phrase of the same pre-tariff rush of iPhone imports from China, it appears unlikely Apple would overlook such an apparent transfer. Which implies there are certainly much more iPhones, Macs, and so forth. prepared to fulfill U.S. shopper demand with out enforced inflation.
Apple strives to keep away from Trump tariffs
Final week, Trump slapped all main manufacturing nations with heavy import tariffs in a bid to reshape worldwide commerce. On Wednesday of this week, he lowered the import taxes to 10% on most nations, however raised them on China. At the moment, the tariff on Chinese language imports to the U.S. stands at 145%.
Apple acquired caught within the center, as most of its merchandise are assembled by Foxconn in China. To a lesser extent, meeting additionally occurs in India, Vietnam and different nations, as Apple labored to diversify its provide chain lately. Nonetheless, wherever they’re made, there are new tariffs imposed by Trump.
In a transparent effort to keep away from iPhone value will increase attributable to import taxes, Apple reportedly introduced in giant quantities of stock earlier than the deadline. Phrase of the tactic first emerged just a few days in the past, however now there are new particulars.
“Tech large Apple chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones, or as many as 1.5 million, to the US from India, after it stepped up manufacturing there in an effort to beat President Donald Trump’s tariffs,” mentioned Reuters on Thursday,
For reference, Apple bought about 25 million iPhones in the US through the second quarter of 2024, so the last-minute rush of imports can solely final so lengthy. That mentioned, it’s not identified what number of items got here in from China on the similar time India elevated its transport, nor what number of Apple already had stockpiled. The Trump tariffs didn’t come as a shock — the politician has been threatening to impose these taxes for months. That gave Apple time to be prepared.
Quick iPhone value enhance unlikely
Traditionally, Apple has tried laborious to keep away from elevating the costs of its merchandise. The iPhone 12 launched in 2020 price $799, and the iPhone 16 launched in 2024 price simply the identical. And through the worldwide disruptions of the COVID epidemic, Apple was by no means compelled into sudden value hikes, although its manufacturing prices undoubtedly went up.
On condition that the corporate now has weeks or months of stock in the US, and its conventional disinterest in hikes, an iPhone value enhance anytime quickly appears not possible.
Long run is a distinct story. Apple can’t take in the price of the 145% tariff Trump imposed on Chinese language imports. And there’s the potential it’ll go even greater if the commerce battle continues to escalate. Which explains why the worth of AAPL shares dropped 15% because the newest spherical of Trump tariffs started.
