Apple shifted nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones and other electronics from India to the U.S. in March as part of a last-ditch effort to avoid the Trump administration’s upcoming tariffs.
The tech giant chartered cargo planes to ship around 1.5 million iPhones, weighing roughly 600 tons, out of India after previously outsourcing their manufacturing there in an effort to bypass existing tariffs on Chinese goods, Reuters reports.
Trump imposed a tariff of 26 percent on Indian exports in April — considerably lower than the 154% tariffs imposed on China during his “Liberation Day” announcement two weeks ago. And although the president has since announced a three-month pause on the majority of the tariffs, with potential exemptions for electronics in the pipeline, Apple is reportedly still keen to bypass the levies as much as possible.
In order to beat the tariff deadlines, Apple reportedly chartered six cargo jets and lobbied Indian airport authorities to slash the time needed to clear customs at Chennai airport in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, down from 30 hours to just six.
Apple “wanted to beat the tariff,” a source familiar with the operation told Reuters, and said a so-called “green corridor” arrangement at the airport mirrored a model previously used by Apple in China.
In order to meet its goal, Apple increased production by 20% at its factories in the run-up to the tariff deadline, the sources reported, hiring more workers and running operations 24/7, including on Sundays which was typically taken as a holiday, they added.
The plant in Chennai, run by manufacturer Foxconn, produced around 20 million iPhones last year, including the latest 15 and 16 models.
In total, the supplier has shipped Apple products worth around $5.3 billion from India to the U.S. since the start of the year.
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