Tariffs give India edge over China, Vietnam in smartphone export race

India could gain a competitive advantage over key global rivals — China and Vietnam — in exporting smartphones to the United States, led by companies like Apple Inc.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

However, it might also face the risk of losing future business for assembling phones if global smartphone companies decided to shift production to countries like Brazil, Türkiye or Saudi Arabia, which now attract lower US duties.

The US administration announced new reciprocal tariffs early Thursday morning India time. While India now faces a 27 per cent tariff on exports to the US, China's tariff has increased to 54 per cent from 20 per cent earlier, and Vietnam has been hit with a new tariff of 46 per cent. Earlier, mobile phones were imported duty-free into the US.