Apple’s ‘Make in India’ gains under threat from potential Trump reciprocal tariffs
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Apple is currently one of India’s largest electronics exporters, shipping iPhones globally, with China being its biggest destination. Estimates suggest that the company is set to send iPhones worth $8-9 billion to the US this financial year, benefiting from zero-duty imports, which make it a profitable arrangement.
However, concerns have emerged within the new US administration over India's 16.5% duty on imported phones and other electronic goods. «The fear of the industry is that if Trump really goes ahead and slaps a reciprocal duty of 16.5% on smartphones and electronics products being shipped out of India, it will immediately reverse the maths against our manufacturing strength,» a key vendor in the ecosystem said.
While the Trump administration’s recent decision to impose a 10% duty on Chinese electronics imports has been seen as an advantage for Indian manufacturers, the situation could shift if India faces a 16.5% tariff in the US. «That would mean our manufacturing will become more expensive than China due to the higher duty. So, Apple will really have no benefit of making in India, and would rather find it beneficial to ship its products out of China at 10% duty,» another vendor said.
The potential tariff increase is not just a concern for Apple but also for other smartphone manufacturers exporting from India, including Samsung and
