Consequences of the customs dispute: Trump wants his iPhone « Made in USA »
According to US trade minister Howard Lutnick, Apple is only waiting for the development of precise robot arms in order to build up iPhones in the USA. Head of the group Tim Cook Lutnick told him recently that Apple did not want to employ so many people abroad in an interview by the US economic station CNBC.
But you need robot arms that could work precisely and in large quantities. As soon as that is in sight, Apple will produce in the United States, Cook has promised him.
American workers would then keep these automated factories going instead of screwing in, said Lutnick. A few weeks ago, he also raved about on TV: « The army of millions and million human beings that turn tiny screws in to produce iPhones – something like this will come to America. » Now he said that this statement had been torn from the context.
Trump wants iPhones from the USA
Trump wants to force manufacturers with high import tariffs to move production to the USA. For important electronics such as smartphones and laptops, however, there was a preliminary exception.
The Minister of Commerce – and also President Donald Trump – had repeatedly said that iPhone production in the USA was possible and desired. Most of the most iPhones are built in China, even if Apple expanded production in India and Vietnam in recent years. A trigger was temporarily bottlenecks for Corona-Lockdown in China, which showed the risks of the pending of only one country.
$ 3,500 for an iPhone?
At the same time, the supply chains have been mainly in Asia for decades of Apple, but also other large electronics manufacturers. In addition, labor costs are significantly lower there than in the USA. If Apple were to build its iPhones in a factory in West Virginia or New Jersey, the price of a device would be at $ 3,500, analyst Dan Ives recently warned of the investment company Wedbus.
If the group moved only ten percent of the supply chain to the United States, it would cost him three years and $ 30 billion, IVES estimated in the CNN news channel. So far, Apple has not commented on the discussion that has been running for weeks.
