Trump has threatened to impose a 25% import tax on all smartphones made outside the US
\nWeb Desk
\nWashington
\nPresident Donald Trump said that the tariffs he threatened against Apple Inc. earlier Friday would also be aimed at a wider range of device makers including Samsung Electronics Co. to spur them into moving manufacturing of their products to the US.
\n\u201cIt would be more,\u201d Trump said when asked at the White House whether his tariff threat would only apply to Apple. \u201cIt would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn\u2019t be fair.\u201d Trump indicated that the import levies would be \u201cappropriately done\u201d and ready for implementation by the end of June but provided no other details.
\nThe president\u2019s remarks clarified his social media post from earlier in the day warning that Apple would face tariffs of 25% if the Cupertino, California-based company failed to shift production of its iconic iPhone to the US from overseas. The warning came days after a Tuesday meeting between Trump and Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook at the White House, a US official said.
\n\u201cHe said he\u2019s going to India to build plants. I said, that\u2019s okay to go to India, but you\u2019re not going to sell into here without tariffs, and that\u2019s the way it is,\u201d Trump said.
\nApple\u2019s stock fell as much as 3.9% in New York trading. Separately Friday, Trump also threatened a 50% tariff on the European Union that would go into effect June 1, which weighed on the broader market.
\nTrump\u2019s demand for US-based manufacturing pose a stark challenge to Apple and South Korea-based Samsung, whose supply chains for their devices have been concentrated in Asia for years. The US lacks the rich ecosystem of suppliers, manufacturing and engineering know-how that \u2014 for now \u2014 can only be found in the region.
\nRepresentatives from Apple didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment. Samsung and Alphabet Inc., whose Android software runs Samsung mobile devices, declined to comment.
\nTrump\u2019s warning on Friday took shape after Apple signaled earlier this month that new tariffs would bring as much as $900 million in higher costs in the current quarter. To limit the impact of import levies on goods made in China, Apple had already planned to transfer the bulk of its US-bound iPhone production to facilities in India \u2014 a move that had drawn increasing Trump ire.
\nLast week, during his trip to the Middle East, Trump said he had asked Cook to stop building plants in India to make devices for the US, pushing the iPhone maker to add domestic production as it pivots away from China.
\n\u201cI had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,\u201d Trump said of his conversation. \u201cHe is building all over India. I don\u2019t want you building in India.\u201d
\nApple said earlier this year that it plans to spend $500 billion in the US over the next four years, which will include work on a new server manufacturing facility in Houston, a supplier academy in Michigan and additional spending with its existing suppliers in the country.
\nBut that stops short of the full shift to US-based production envisioned by Trump. Moving manufacturing of its signature iPhone and other devices to the US would be an enormous undertaking for the Cupertino, California-based company.
\n\u201cThis is a clear negative,\u201d KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brandon Nispel said in a note. \u201cFor Apple, it seems as if it must now raise prices on iPhones, which will likely occur with the launch of the iPhone 17. However, in the near term, it likely implies a more significant gross margin impact.\u201d
\nThe change threatens to cut Apple\u2019s gross margin by 3 to 3.5 percentage points in fiscal 2026, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. But moving iPhone production to the US would likely still be far more costly than paying the tariff. And analysts have estimated that US-made phones would ultimately cost consumers thousands of dollars apiece.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trump has threatened to impose a 25% import tax on all smartphones made outside the US Web Desk Washington President Donald Trump said that the tariffs he threatened against Apple Inc. earlier Friday would also be aimed at a wider range of device makers including Samsung Electronics Co. to spur them into moving manufacturing of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-480658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n