‘Little, little screws’ one of many hurdles to US-made iPhones
Trump threatened a 25 per cent tariff on any iPhones sold, but not made, in the US, as part of his administration’s goal of reshoring jobs
President Donald Trump’s bid to bring manufacturing of Apple’s iPhone to the United States faces many legal and economic challenges, experts said on Friday, the least of which are the insertion of “little screws” that would need to be automated.
Trump threatened on Friday to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Apple for any iPhones sold, but not made, in the United States, as part of his administration’s goal of reshoring jobs.
He told reporters later on Friday that the 25 per cent tariff would also apply to Samsung Electronics and other smartphone makers. He expects the tariffs to go into effect at the end of June.
“Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair” if it did not apply to all imported smartphones, Trump said. “I had a understanding with (Apple CEO) Tim (Cook) that he wouldn’t be doing this. He said he’s going to India to build plants. I said that’s OK to go to India but you’re not going to sell into here without tariffs.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS last month that the work of “millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones” would come to the United States and be automated, creating jobs for skilled trade workers such as mechanics and electricians.
But he later told CNBC that Cook told him that doing so requires technology not yet available.