US President Donald Trump will increase tariffs on Indian goods to 50% from August 27, but Apple's manufacturing operations in India will not be affected. Semiconductors and their derivatives (e.g. iPhone)Already enjoyedExemption from the current 25% reciprocal tariff. according toCNBC reports, this executive order to increase tariff rates will double the reciprocal tariff rate of 25% to 50%, while semiconductors will continue to enjoy exemptions.
India started implementing 25% reciprocal tariffs on August 1, and Apple has not been affected so far. And it doesn’t appear that Apple’s situation will change if tariffs are raised to 50% at the end of August.
Apple has moved a large portion of its manufacturing operations from China to India in an effort to diversify its supply chain and cope with U.S.-China trade tensions. Apple partners such as Foxconn and Pegatron have set up factories in India to assemble iPhones, and all five iPhone 16 models are assembled in India for Indian customers and exported to countries such as the United States.
The order exempting Apple from paying reciprocal tariffs is temporary and the exemptions could change based on Trump's wishes. Trump has said that no one can "get away with it" and that his administration is looking at specific semiconductor tariffs that could affect Apple devices.
Apple is trying to convince Trump not to impose additional tariffs on it. The company pledged to invest $500 billion in U.S. manufacturing earlier this year, and today Trump announced another $100 billion investment in the form of new U.S. manufacturing projects. Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the conference.