Apple Finds Way to Bypass Trump Tariffs, Indian Lifeboat Accelerates

97% of phones exported from India between March and May this year by Foxconn (a Taiwanese manufacturer working for Apple, among others) went to the United States, customs data show.

In 2024, Foxconn shipped half (50.3%) of its production from India to the US . The rest went to other markets, including the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and the UK. According to Reuters , Apple wants to avoid high tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on China.

Foxconn exported $3.2 billion worth of iPhones from India to the US between March and May 2025. In May, the value reached almost $1 billion, which was the second highest value in history after the record $1.3 billion recorded in March.

Apple and Foxconn declined to comment to Reuters.

Donald Trump pushes to locate Apple production in the US

The level of tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the U.S. has been changing dynamically for several months, depending on the temperature of the dispute between the two countries. On Wednesday, it was announced that the U.S. and China had agreed on a plan , subject to the consent of both leaders, to ease the tariffs, and that the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese products will be 55 percent.

India is lower. Like most US trading partners, it is subject to a 10 percent base tariff and is trying to negotiate a deal to avoid the 26 percent tax that Trump announced and then withheld in April.

Apple 's increased production in India has drawn sharp rebuke from Donald Trump.

"We are not interested in you manufacturing in India. India can take care of itself, it is doing very well. We want you to manufacture in the United States, " Trump told Apple CEO Tim Cook.

25-30 percent of iPhones in the global market will come from India

Foxconn shipped $4.4 billion worth of iPhones from India to the U.S. in the first five months of this year, compared with $3.7 billion in all of 2024, Reuters reports. In March, Apple chartered planes to transport about $2 billion worth of iPhone 13, 14, 16 and 16e models to the United States.

“ India-made iPhones will account for 25-30% of global shipments in 2025 , up from 18% in 2024,” said Prachir Singh, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.

Tata Electronics , India’s No. 2 iPhone supplier after Foxconn, shipped an average of nearly 86% of its production to the United States in March and April. The company, part of India’s Tata Group, only began exporting iPhones in July 2024, and the average share of smartphones shipped to the U.S. by the end of the year was 52%.