Trump Threatens to Impose Import Tariffs on All Smartphones: iPhone Under Attack

The prospect of significantly more expensive iPhones could soon become a reality for American consumers.

On Friday, President Donald Trump announced a 25% import tariff on all smartphones produced outside the USA, including Apple’s iPhones and rival Samsung’s devices.

“I expect that the iPhones sold in the USA will also be manufactured in the USA,” Trump stated in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.

The announcement comes as Trump also threatens a 50% tariff on European goods in general, but the attack on Apple appears to be a particular pressure tactic to move production back to the USA.

According to the president, Samsung and “everyone else making such products” should also be subjected to the tariff, which he expects to be enacted by the end of June.

For Apple, which is already in the process of moving significant parts of its production to India, relocating to the USA would require a massive industrial shift.

However, the company has no plans to manufacture iPhones on American soil, even though it has announced investments of $500 billion in nine American states by 2026.

Analyst Gil Luria, according to Reuters, assesses that “it is difficult to imagine Apple meeting Trump’s demands within the next 3-5 years.”

Trump has previously used similar threats against the automotive industry and pharmaceutical companies to pressure businesses to bring jobs back home. This time, it is the tech giants who are designated as pieces in a larger economic power play. The announced tariff will affect more than 60 million smartphones that are purchased by American consumers annually.

In the wake of Trump’s announcement, Apple’s stock fell by 3%, while gold prices rose and the dollar weakened.

The markets responded quickly to the uncertainty, and many now fear the consequences of a new escalation in the trade conflict. If the tariff becomes a reality, it could lead to price increases of several hundred dollars per iPhone—a burden that would ultimately fall on consumers and potentially shift costs to European consumers as well.

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