Trump's tariff threat, China's retaliation leave Apple stuck between a rock and a hard place
Foxconn, Apple's largest supplier, has quietly pulled Chinese engineers and technicians from its Indian plants. Over 300 Chinese workers have left Foxconn's iPhone assembly facilities in India in the past two months.
Not just the workforce, Beijing is also curbing technology transfers and tightening controls on equipment exports to India and Southeast Asia, Apple's key hubs outside China, Bloomberg reported. This is to protect China's long-term interests in case tariffs come knocking from the West.
What this means for Apple
Foxconn's move will hurt Apple as it gears up to make the iPhone 17. India already accounts for 20% of global iPhone output and was hoping to scale further. Trump had aimed the tariff gun at India's Southeast Asian peers, and the country was hoping to pick up the slack.
This is also significant, as data showed that nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn from India went to the US between March and May, far above the 2024 average of 50% and a clear sign of Apple's efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. But Vietnam, another key Apple manufacturer, has moved faster and struck a deal with Washington that allows duty-free American imports and caps tariffs on Vietnamese goods at 20%, far below Trump's proposed 46%. This is while India waits for its interim trade agreement ahead of the July 9 deadline.
India angle
India relies on both a skilled workforce and high-end tech from China. So far, the impact has been limited, but experts say it could worsen as India is pinning its hopes on Apple to become a manufacturing powerhouse. However, Union minister for electronics, IT, railways and information & broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has said the country plans to develop its own electronics manufacturing abilities and reduce dependence on China.
At an ET Roundtable in New Delhi, Vaishnaw said that India is ramping up domestic production in a 'very methodical and sustained way', aiming for a 38% value addition over the next five years. 'De-risking is learning the skills and making it here and developing our own supply chain, which is what we are doing,' he said. China currently accounts for 38% value addition in electronics assembled in India. Vaishnaw said India is working to reduce its dependence on Chinese know-how and will lean on ecosystems in Taiwan, the US, and South Korea, alongside its own talent.
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