Apple and Trump’s Tariffs: How Does the Giant Transport iPhones from India to the US?

Apple, in an effort to avoid tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, chartered special cargo flights and transported 600 tons of iPhones (about 1.5 million smartphones) from India to the United States. This is the result of the US president’s unstable tariff policy.

iPhone boom. Due to customs

What are the consequences of Donald Trump’s chaotic customs actions ? It’s causing quite a stir in the world.  The chartering of special cargo flights and the transport of 600 tons of iPhones (about 1.5 million smartphones) from India to the United States indicates Apple’s strategy to bypass tariffs and stockpile iPhones in the United States, the company’s biggest market. Imports from China, Apple’s main manufacturing base, were subject to Trump’s highest tariff of 125 percent, while imports from India were subject to a tariff of 26 percent (now suspended). Apple has lobbied authorities at the Indian airport in Chennai to shorten customs clearance times from 30 hours to six. A so-called “green corridor” has been set up, imitating the model used in China. About six cargo jets carrying iPhones have taken off from India since March.

Trump Tariff Confusion

Counterpoint Research estimates that one-fifth of iPhone imports to the U.S. now come from India, with the rest coming from China. Foxconn’s Chennai plant produced 20 million iPhones last year, including the latest models. Foxconn’s shipments from India to the U.S. rose to $770 million in January and $643 million in February.

Despite the announced break, the 10 percent rate on almost all products imported from abroad remains in force, as well as the additionally increased 125 percent tariffs on goods from the People’s Republic of China, which according to some experts constitute a de facto embargo on many Chinese products.

The suspension of tariffs, although not as harmful as the tariffs themselves, still harms the economy because it increases uncertainty and prevents businesses from planning effectively, said Prof. Kenneth Reinert from George Mason University (GMU) in Virginia. He noted that high tariffs on most goods remain in force.