White House Pressures Apple to Bear iPhone Tariffs

Kevin Hassett, NEC Chairman, Interview with CNBC
Trump Announces 25% Tariff on iPhones Manufactured Outside the United States

As the Donald Trump administration in the United States announced plans to impose high tariffs on iPhones manufactured overseas, Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC), pressured Apple by stating that "Apple should bear the tariffs" and should not pass the costs on to consumers.

In an interview with CNBC on the 27th (local time), Hassett said, "Right now, even the slightest tariffs are being treated as if they are a disaster, but some degree of pressure is necessary for negotiations," expressing this view.

He added, "Ultimately, we will have to see how things unfold, and we do not want to harm Apple," but emphasized, "If Apple has factories somewhere and produces a certain number of iPhones that it must sell no matter what, in the end, it will be Apple?not consumers?that bears the tariffs. This is because supply is elastic," he explained.

These remarks came after President Donald Trump posted on his social media that "a minimum 25% tariff will be imposed on iPhones manufactured outside the United States." Apple currently manufactures its products in China, India, and Vietnam.

In the same post, President Trump warned, "I have long told Apple CEO Tim Cook that iPhones sold in the United States should be manufactured in the United States. If not, Apple will have to pay a minimum 25% tariff in the United States."

This is interpreted as a reaffirmation of the Trump administration's existing stance that companies?not consumers?should bear the cost of tariffs. Previously, when Walmart stated that it would have no choice but to pass tariff costs on to consumers, President Trump strongly pressured the company, saying, "EAT THE TARIFFS."

CNBC reported that if iPhones were manufactured in the United States, the price could reach up to $3,500.

In response to President Trump's public pressure on Apple and CEO Tim Cook, The New York Times (NYT) analyzed that, after eight years, Tim Cook has fallen from being one of President Trump's favorite CEOs (in 2019, President Trump jokingly called him "Tim Apple") to one of the White House's top target companies.

Meanwhile, according to data from market research firm Canalys, 3 million India-made iPhones were shipped to the United States last month, up 76% from the same month last year, while the number of China-made iPhones exported to the United States fell to 900,000, a 76% decrease. At the beginning of this year, India-made iPhones accounted for only about half the volume of China-made iPhones exported to the U.S., but in March, India-made iPhones surpassed those from China, and last month the gap widened significantly. This is interpreted as Apple securing inventory ahead of the reciprocal tariffs announced by President Trump on the 2nd of last month.