The move is part of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff plan, announced 2 April 2025, which aims to retaliate against what he sees as unfair trade practices.

Under normal conditions, tariffs are applied by country of origin, not a company which makes Trump’s anti-Apple proposal legally shaky. Still, he made it plain: “I have 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. If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25 per cent must be paid by Apple to the US.”

And he’s not just targeting Job’s Mob. “It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.”

If enacted, the tariff could drive iPhone prices through the roof. Analysts estimate that this tariff could add approximately $250 to the cost of each iPhone. For instance, the base model of the iPhone 16, currently priced at $799, could rise to around $1,049.

But the same would happen if Apple set up its plants in the US Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives reckons a US-made iPhone could cost as much as $3,500 a pop. 

Job’s Mob has been shuffling its manufacturing around, including plans to ramp up production in India. But moving full-scale iPhone assembly to the US is a no go. The company has committed more than $500 billion in US investments, but that doesn’t include building iPhones on home turf.

California attorney general Rob Bonta isn’t impressed. “We will be monitoring what Trump does, if he does anything, and we’ll make sure that if the law is broken and we have standing to sue, we’ll take appropriate action.” He added: “It’s almost like he wakes up in the morning and he says, ‘Hey, I think Apple should build more Apple phones in the US, and so maybe I’ll tell their CEO that he should do that.’ And then maybe tomorrow, he wakes up and he says, ‘Hey, I was just kidding.’”