Apple flies 1.5 million iPhones from India to US ahead of Trump's tariff deadline

Apple, the tech giant, transported at least five aircraft, carrying 600 tonnes of tech products, including 1.5 million iPhones, from India to the US over three days to avoid President Donald Trump’s tariff, according to reports.

An urgent shipment was made to avoid a 10% reciprocal tariff, confirmed by a senior official in India to a local entity, Times of India. 

Citing the sources, the report stated that Apple has no plan to increase the prices of its products in India and other markets. 

However, analysts warned that the US prices of iPhones were expected to increase as the company relies highly on imports from China, a manufacturing hub of devices, which is subject to Trump’s highest tariff rate of 125pc. 

Read: iPhones expected to become pricier due to Trump administration's tariffs

According to Trump’s latest announcement, the import tariff from India to the US was 26%, which was significantly less than that on China, which faced the highest rate of 125%.

However, Trump announced a 90-day pause in imposing these reciprocal tariffs on all countries except for China. This pause provided Apple a window to bring its products to the US before the tariffs applied.

The transportation of iPhones and other products from India to the US was termed as a plan to beat the tariff. 

“Factories in India and China and other countries across the world have been shipping the product to the US in anticipation of the higher tariffs,” Indian organisation cited sources. 

Read: World left scratching its head as Trump imposes tariffs on islands with zero humans 

Notably, at the 54pc tariff rate, the $1,599 cost of the top-end iPhone 16 Pro Max would be $2,300 in the United States. 

To meet a 20% production increase goal, Apple boosted air shipments to its Indian iPhone factories.

The company added workers and temporarily operated its largest Foxconn factory in India on Sundays, a usual holiday. This factory, which produced 20 million iPhones last year, including iPhone 15 and 16 models, now runs seven days a week, sources confirmed.