The English-language South China Morning Post (SCMP) says that Apple’s largest contract manufacturer, Foxconn, has already finalized plans to move some iPad and MacBook production from China to Vietnam. It’s no secret that Apple has been dying to move production of its products, including the all-important iPhone, out of China. Such a move was discussed in earnest back in 2019 when the U.S. imposed tariffs on certain products imported from China.
The tariffs were merely an import tax that U.S. companies and consumers paid. Luckily, the U.S. and China agreed to end the imposition of tariffs before they escalated to include the iPhone. Still, some Apple products were affected and CEO Tim Cook internally seethed because the tariffs that Apple had to pay (or else its own customers would have to pay in the form of a price hike) were initiated by the United States government.
Cook would love to see Apple leave China and produce the iPhone in India and Vietnam
There are several reasons why Cook would love to get Apple out of China. One is that the relationship between the U.S. and China has not thawed so there is always the possibility that the trade war between the two countries heats up again. Also, Apple is fearful that the Chinese government could order a lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID; the last time this took place in November, Foxconn’s assembly line was decimated as employees tried to escape from being under the thumb of the COVID lockdown.
