iPhone made in the USA? Unlikely, as Apple gives Donald Trump a harsh reality check
Washington D.C.: The White House and Apple seem to be at odds about whether the ihone can be made in America. While the Donald Trump administration maintains that Apple manufacturing iPhones in the US is achievable, analysts and the company itself had claimed the idea as unrealistic.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that Trump believes Apple’s $500 billion investment and rising import costs from tariffs will push the company to shift production stateside. “We have the labor, workforce, and resources to do it,” she said.
Trump reinforced this on Truth Social, claiming the US offers “zero tariffs” and fast approvals for companies relocating. However, experts argue that the US lacks the skilled workforce found in China, India, and Vietnam, where most iPhones are made. Jobs once told President Obama that China’s 700,000 factory workers and 30,000 on-site engineers couldn’t be replicated in America. Cook echoed this, emphasizing China’s advanced tooling expertise over cheap labor.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick envisions automated US factories leveraging American “tradecraft", but analysts like Needham’s Laura Martin doubt rapid shifts, noting India took years to produce 14% of iPhones. Meanwhile, tariff concerns have contributed to Apple’s stock dropping 31% this year, with Microsoft surpassing it as the world’s most valuable company.
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Dan Ives, global head of technology research at financial services firm Wedbush Securities, told CNN that US-made iPhones could cost more than three times their current price of around $1,000, he added, because it would be necessary to replicate the highly complex production ecosystem that currently exists in Asia.
“You build that [supply chain] in the US with a fab in West Virginia and New Jersey. They’ll be $3,500 iPhones,” he said. And even then, it would cost Apple about $30 billion and three years to move just 10% of their supply chain to the US to begin with, Ives said.