Trump expands Apple tariff threat to all smartphones
AFP | Washington
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com
US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened Apple and other smartphone manufacturers with a 25 percent tariff unless their devices are built in the United States.
Trump initially said the tariff would apply only to Apple — an unusual move to single out a specific company in trade policy. However, he later expanded the threat to include all smartphone makers.
“It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair,” Trump told reporters in Washington, adding that the new tariffs would take effect by the “end of June.”
While Apple designs its products in the United States, most iPhone assembly occurs in China, which remains embroiled in a trade war with the United States.
Apple has announced plans to shift some production to other countries, including India, but Trump said this would not satisfy his demands.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he had “long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else.”
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