Trump Claims iPhone Could Be Made In America Experts Say – Not Possible. As the Trump administration nears the deadline for imposing higher tariffs on China, it has been claiming that products like the iPhone can be manufactured in the United States. White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt made the statement about Apple’s recently announced $500 billion investment plan.
“You know, Apple has already invested $500 billion in the United States,” Levitt said. “If Apple thought manufacturing in the United States wasn’t possible, they wouldn’t have made such a huge investment.
Many analysts do not consider the Trump administration’s claims to be realistic. According to them, making the iPhone in the United States would increase Apple’s costs significantly. They analyze that Apple’s current investments are in line with normal expenses.
Stock markets fell on Tuesday after the White House announced that a 104 percent tariff on materials imported from China would take effect on Wednesday. Shares of Apple, which makes iPhones in China, fell about 5 percent. Wall Street analysts are now estimating how much the price of the iPhone could rise.
According to Jobs, 30,000 skilled engineers are needed to support the approximately 700,000 workers in China, a number that is difficult to provide in the United States.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also said in 2017 that China’s priority was not due to labor costs but rather to technical proficiency, the level of production equipment, and the large number of skilled workers available in the same location.
However, analysts say the Trump administration’s claims will be difficult to implement in practice due to the lack of technical infrastructure in the US, skilled engineers, and mechanisms required for the production cycle. Some analysts have said that forcing the company to change its production strategy is impossible and impractical. Apple is expanding iPhone production outside China to India and Vietnam due to supply chain crises following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If the Trump administration increases pressure on American products through higher tariffs, the price of an iPhone, which costs about $1,000 today, could rise to $3,500,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
