Trump's Ultimatum To Apple Could Jack Up The Price Of Your Next iPhone

In April, President Trump announced that smartphones and a host of other electronic devices would be excluded from the tariff dispute between the US and China, bringing some temporary relief to the tech industry. Apple, however, may be entangled in a web of new tariffs. Following Apple's decision and subsequent announcement to build a factory in India, President Trump has threatened to impose a tariff on all iPhones coming into the US market.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, the president said that he had previously told Apple CEO, Tim Cook, that all iPhones intended for sale in the US, should also be manufactured in the US. He added that failure to abide by this will result in a tariff of 25%.


This latest threat by the President comes despite Apple's promise to spend $500 billion in the US, to expand its facilities and create more jobs. On a related note, Cook had also revealed that Apple was already expecting to spend 900 million dollars to mitigate the costs of tariffs this quarter, so an additional 25% will likely raise the price of iPhones for US consumers.

While this announcement might have caused a slight decline in Apple's share price on Friday, the company is not expected to immediately comply for obvious reasons. Building or retro-fitting new manufacturing plants in the US will take time, and the facilities would have to be staffed with skilled labor. Even if these hurdles are cleared, production in the US will likely increase the cost of iPhones anyway due to the increased costs related to the higher wages payable in the US compared to other countries.


Apple has not commented on the issue just yet. It's unlikely that the company would openly disagree with the president's remarks and might favor a meeting in the White House instead. Time will tell.