WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s ambition to see iPhones manufactured on American soil is clashing with the stark realities of global supply chains and decades of industrial evolution.
Although Apple Inc. has pledged to invest US$500 billion in the US over the next four years and the Trump administration plans to impose tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports, experts say the idea of domestically produced iPhones remains unrealistic in the foreseeable future.
The US lacks the complex ecosystem that supports iPhone production—one that includes a vast network of specialised suppliers, engineering talent, and logistical infrastructure found in Asia, particularly China.
“Boston is over 500,000 people. The whole city would need to stop everything and start assembling iPhones,” said Matthew Moore, a former Apple manufacturing engineer. “Millions of people are employed by the Apple supply chain in China.”
The Scale Problem
Apple’s Chinese manufacturing facilities are enormous. The Zhengzhou complex, dubbed “iPhone City,” employs hundreds of thousands and operates like a self-contained town—with dormitories, schools, gyms, and hospitals. Replicating such a setup in the US would be unprecedented.
Meanwhile, Apple’s partners are building the world’s second-largest iPhone facility in India. The country is rapidly becoming a key production hub, now producing an estimated 35 million iPhones a year, enough to meet a large share of US demand.
Skills Gap and Supply Chain Challenges
Apple CEO Tim Cook has long argued that China’s advantage lies not in low labour costs, but in its concentration of skilled engineers and tooling experts. As early as 2017, Cook pointed out that the US lacked the number of tooling engineers needed even to fill a room, while China could fill football fields.
Moreover, Apple’s complex supply chain relies on thousands of components and partners primarily based in Asia. Even the Mac Pro, assembled in Texas, relies on parts manufactured in China.
Automation Isn’t the Answer – Yet
While some suggest that Apple could sidestep labour shortages by building a fully automated, robotic plant in the US, industry experts say automation can’t yet match the adaptability or precision of human workers—especially when product designs and materials are constantly evolving.
“You design the thing, rebuild the factory, and then you only have six months to sell it,” said a source familiar with Apple’s supply chain. “The pace of change makes it so much harder to automate.”
Diversification, Not Repatriation
Apple has been steadily reducing its reliance on China, shifting some production to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand—for devices like AirPods, Macs, and iPads. But for the iPhone, which sells over 220 million units annually and comes in multiple configurations, China’s scale remains unmatched.
Even in India, Apple’s largest alternative production site, it has taken a decade to reach meaningful output levels.
For now, while Indian-made iPhones are increasingly shipped to US shelves to circumvent tariffs, the dream of a fully American-made iPhone remains just that—a dream.–BLOOMBERG
