Apple sends 97% of India iPhone exports to US amid tariff risk

India Gazette

5 hours ago

NEW DELHI, India: Amid mounting U.S.-China trade tensions, Apple has sharply increased iPhone shipments from India to the United States, shifting its supply chain to sidestep heavy tariffs on Chinese-made goods.
Between March and May, nearly 97 percent of iPhones exported by Foxconn from India were sent to the U.S.—a dramatic jump from the 2024 average of just over 50 percent, according to customs data reviewed by Reuters.
The sharp pivot in export destinations reflects Apple's broader strategy to reduce dependence on China as U.S. tariffs rise and trade policy grows unpredictable under Donald Trump's administration.
During the March-May period alone, Foxconn exported $3.2 billion worth of iPhones from India, with shipments to the U.S. reaching nearly $1 billion in May—the second-highest on record after March's $1.3 billion.
The redirection marks a stark departure from previous years when Indian-made iPhones were distributed across markets, including the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and the UK.
Neither Apple nor Foxconn responded to requests for comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that China will face a 55 percent tariff as part of a new plan pending approval by both governments. While India currently faces a standard 10 percent duty, it is working to avoid a 26 percent "reciprocal" levy that Trump announced and later paused.
Apple's effort to scale Indian production has triggered a backlash from Trump. "We are not interested in you building in India. India can take care of itself. They are doing very well. We want you to build here," he recalled telling Apple CEO Tim Cook in May.
In the first five months of 2025, Foxconn has already shipped $4.4 billion worth of iPhones to the U.S. from India—surpassing 2024's full-year total of $3.7 billion.
To speed up logistics, Apple even chartered planes in March to deliver iPhone models 13, 14, 16, and 16e worth roughly $2 billion to the U.S. It has also pushed for faster customs clearance at Chennai airport—its central export hub—cutting processing times from 30 hours to six.
"We expect made-in-India iPhones to account for 25 percent to 30 percent of global iPhone shipments in 2025, as compared to 18 percent in 2024," said Prachir Singh, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.
Tata Electronics, Apple's other Indian supplier, also boosted exports to the U.S., shipping an average of 86 percent of its iPhones there during March and April. That's up from 52 percent in 2024 after it began iPhone production in July last year. Tata declined to comment.
Despite India's push to become a smartphone manufacturing hub, high import duties on components still make local production costlier than in some other countries.
Historically, Apple has sold over 60 million iPhones annually in the U.S., with 80 percent of them made in China.