Trump wants Apple to make iPhones in the US, but would you pay Rs 3 lakh for one?
Experts warn that there are major hurdles for Apple to manufacture iPhones in the US, including economic challenges and skill issues.
- Apr 9, 2025,
- Updated Apr 9, 2025 6:04 PM IST
In a bold push for economic nationalism, US President Donald Trump has renewed calls for Apple to manufacture iPhones entirely in the United States, claiming it would bring back “jobs and factories” lost to globalisation. But experts say the idea is deeply flawed, and if it ever happened, the price of an iPhone could skyrocket to as much as $3,500 (approximately ₹3 lakh).
During a recent media briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump "absolutely" believes the United States has the labour force, workforce and resources needed for Apple to shift its operations home. "If Apple didn’t think the United States could do it, they probably wouldn’t have put up that big chunk of change," Leavitt said, referencing the tech giant’s $500 billion U.S. investment plan.
Trump’s push comes as his administration begins levying steep tariffs on China, Vietnam, Thailand, India, the EU, and others, up to 104% on Chinese goods starting this week. He claims these tariffs will force companies like Apple to choose between paying the penalties or shifting manufacturing to the US.
But behind the political rhetoric lies a reality tech analysts call "fantasy."
"You build that supply chain in the US with a fab in West Virginia and New Jersey, and they’ll be $3,500 iPhones," said Dan Ives, Global Head of Tech Research at Wedbush Securities, in an interview with CNN. Ives estimated it would cost Apple about $30 billion and take three years to move just 10% of its existing supply chain to the United States, an ecosystem currently entrenched across China, Taiwan, South Korea, and more than 50 other countries. A 27-page Apple supplier list reveals just how globally integrated the iPhone’s production is, sourcing even rare earth materials from up to 79 countries, many of which cannot be mined in the US.
Even if Apple were to attempt this reshoring effort, there’s another major obstacle: skill.
"The products we make require really advanced tooling," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in 2017. "In the US, I’m not sure we could fill a room with tooling engineers. In China, you can fill multiple football fields." US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick echoed that sentiment over the weekend, calling the idea of moving millions of low-skill assembly jobs to America "a fantasy," citing the sheer manpower needed to handle intricate iPhone production.
Apple has experimented with domestic manufacturing before, most notably assembling the Mac Pro in Texas during Trump’s first term. That project ran into delays, cost overruns, and a shortage of skilled labour. Today, the company is reportedly using part of its US investment to manufacture servers for its private cloud systems, not customer-facing products like the iPhone.
Though Apple has not publicly commented on the new round of tariffs, it is reportedly stockpiling iPhones and ramping up exports from India—from where it reportedly flew five planeloads of iPhones—to buffer against the cost shocks.
Estimates about what a US-made iPhone would cost vary. MIT once pegged the additional cost at $100–$200, but more recent projections, including those by Ives and Counterpoint Research, suggest price hikes between 30% and 300%, depending on how much of the supply chain is relocated.
While Trump insists Apple and the US can pull it off, many in the industry say the numbers, logistics, and workforce realities tell a very different story.
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In a bold push for economic nationalism, US President Donald Trump has renewed calls for Apple to manufacture iPhones entirely in the United States, claiming it would bring back “jobs and factories” lost to globalisation. But experts say the idea is deeply flawed, and if it ever happened, the price of an iPhone could skyrocket to as much as $3,500 (approximately ₹3 lakh).
During a recent media briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump "absolutely" believes the United States has the labour force, workforce and resources needed for Apple to shift its operations home. "If Apple didn’t think the United States could do it, they probably wouldn’t have put up that big chunk of change," Leavitt said, referencing the tech giant’s $500 billion U.S. investment plan.
Trump’s push comes as his administration begins levying steep tariffs on China, Vietnam, Thailand, India, the EU, and others, up to 104% on Chinese goods starting this week. He claims these tariffs will force companies like Apple to choose between paying the penalties or shifting manufacturing to the US.
But behind the political rhetoric lies a reality tech analysts call "fantasy."
"You build that supply chain in the US with a fab in West Virginia and New Jersey, and they’ll be $3,500 iPhones," said Dan Ives, Global Head of Tech Research at Wedbush Securities, in an interview with CNN. Ives estimated it would cost Apple about $30 billion and take three years to move just 10% of its existing supply chain to the United States, an ecosystem currently entrenched across China, Taiwan, South Korea, and more than 50 other countries. A 27-page Apple supplier list reveals just how globally integrated the iPhone’s production is, sourcing even rare earth materials from up to 79 countries, many of which cannot be mined in the US.
Even if Apple were to attempt this reshoring effort, there’s another major obstacle: skill.
"The products we make require really advanced tooling," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in 2017. "In the US, I’m not sure we could fill a room with tooling engineers. In China, you can fill multiple football fields." US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick echoed that sentiment over the weekend, calling the idea of moving millions of low-skill assembly jobs to America "a fantasy," citing the sheer manpower needed to handle intricate iPhone production.
Apple has experimented with domestic manufacturing before, most notably assembling the Mac Pro in Texas during Trump’s first term. That project ran into delays, cost overruns, and a shortage of skilled labour. Today, the company is reportedly using part of its US investment to manufacture servers for its private cloud systems, not customer-facing products like the iPhone.
Though Apple has not publicly commented on the new round of tariffs, it is reportedly stockpiling iPhones and ramping up exports from India—from where it reportedly flew five planeloads of iPhones—to buffer against the cost shocks.
Estimates about what a US-made iPhone would cost vary. MIT once pegged the additional cost at $100–$200, but more recent projections, including those by Ives and Counterpoint Research, suggest price hikes between 30% and 300%, depending on how much of the supply chain is relocated.
While Trump insists Apple and the US can pull it off, many in the industry say the numbers, logistics, and workforce realities tell a very different story.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine