Apple Has Few Incentives to Start Making iPhones in US, Despite Trade War With China

The disincentives for Apple shifting its production domestically include a complex supply chain that it began building in China during the 1990s

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SAN FRANCISCO: President Donald Trump's administration has been predicting its barrage of tariffs targeting China will push Apple into manufacturing the iPhone in the United States for the first time.

But that's an unlikely scenario even with US tariffs now standing at 145 per cent on products made in China—the country where Apple has manufactured most of its iPhones since the first model hit the market 18 years ago.

The disincentives for Apple shifting its production domestically include a complex supply chain that it began building in China during the 1990s. It would take several years and cost billions of dollars to build new plants in the US, and then confront Apple with economic forces that could triple the price of an iPhone, threatening to torpedo sales of its marquee product.