In a bold (and costly) move to fight back, the company has airlifted 1.5 million iPhones from India to the U.S. in an attempt to avoid new tariffs on China-made electronics.
Since March, Apple has sent over 600 tonnes of iPhones, assembled by Foxconn in India, to the U.S. on more than 40 cargo flights, an exceptional and expensive measure. The move came as a direct response aimed at ‘beating’ Trump’s tariff.
The urgency stems from the recent escalation in trade tensions. On April 2, 2025, President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports from numerous countries, with China being the most affected. Chinese imports faced an additional 34% tariff, bringing the total to 54%. Shortly after, on April 9, 2025, the administration implemented a 90-day pause on these tariffs for most U.S. trading partners, excluding China. Chinese goods were excluded from the reprieve, and the White House later clarified that tariffs on some Chinese imports would in fact reach as high as 145%. Imports from countries like India, threatened with a 26% tariff were temporarily exempt.
No wonder, then, that Apple moved quickly to shift part of its supply. The iPhones were assembled in Chennai, India, by Foxconn – one of Apple’s key partners – as part of its long-term strategy to reduce dependence on China. While the company has also expanded production in Vietnam and Malaysia, India remains its most prominent bet for scaling up.
The ongoing trade tensions – between Trump and, well, the entire world, but especially with China – have rattled the tech industry. More than 70% of smartphones and nearly 90% of laptops are assembled in China. Apple’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing has once again become a liability, as already demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. When tariffs hit, the impact is immediate and massive.
Still, Apple’s airlift is more of a Band-Aid than a sustainable solution. Airfreight is significantly more expensive than shipping by sea, and India’s production capacity, while growing, is still limited and far from replacing China. The move buys Apple time, maintaining supply in its biggest market and softening the financial blow but it doesn’t offer a long-term solution to trade disruptions.
What does this mean for consumers? So far, prices remain stable. However, analysts warn that without creative solutions, the threat of increases is real. The cost of an iPhone could jump by hundreds of dollars or more. And the idea of moving production to the U.S., a scenario Trump has floated, seems at best unrealistic. If Apple were to manufacture all iPhones domestically, the price tag could climb as high as $3,500 per device, according to analysts at Wedbush Securities quoted by The Guardian.
In the short term, you might see more ‘Assembled in India’ iPhones in stores. But the bigger picture is clear: even Apple, with its famously tight supply chain, isn’t immune to global politics. The iPhone may look the same, but its journey just got a lot more complicated, even though as Fortune noted, Apple’s stock did rebound by 15% following the announcement of the 90-day pause.
