President Trump’s ongoing trade war with China has raised concerns about price surges for products from sneakers to laptops. For now, computers and smartphones are exempt from a 145 percent tariff on goods from China, sparing companies like Apple. But the reprieve might only be temporary, as the Trump administration says some electronics would be subject to “semiconductor tariffs” that could be introduced in the coming weeks.
China is crucial in Apple (AAPL)’s global supply chain, making about 90 percent of iPhones and a significant portion of Mac computers and iPads. This China-centric strategy is largely the work of Tim Cook, who has served as Apple CEO for 14 years and was previously in charge of Apple’s global supply chain under the company’s cofounder Steve Jobs.
Cook joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations, where he slashed costs and overhauled the supply chain to tighten control over quality, inventory and pricing. His operational discipline helped steer Apple out of financial peril and set the stage for its transformation into a consumer tech juggernaut. As CEO, he expanded on that foundation, overseeing the launch of new products and services including the Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV, and Apple Pay.
When serving as chief operating officer from 2005 to 2011, Cook traveled to China frequently—during a time of the country’s rapid industrialization—and laid the groundwork for Apple’s extensive supplier and contractor relationships there.
Cook has stated that part of the reason why he has pushed for so much of Apple’s production to be in China is because of the engineering prowess that’s hard to find elsewhere. “The tooling skill is very deep here,” he said in an interview with Fortune in 2017. “In the U.S., you could have a meeting of tooling engineers, and I’m not sure we could fill the room. In China, you could fill multiple football fields. It’s that vocational expertise that’s very deep here.”
As CEO, Cook continued to make regular visits to China. Early in his tenure, he made several high-profile trips to meet with Apple’s manufacturing partners and government officials. In 2013, he helped broker a landmark deal with China Mobile, the state-owned carrier, to begin offering iPhones on its network. Cook has since maintained a steady presence in the country, frequently touring factories and attending the openings of new Apple stores. In March 2025, just weeks before Trump announced new tariffs, Cook attended the China Development Forum and met with senior government officials to reaffirm Apple’s commitment to the Chinese market.
Cook has played a key role in securing government incentives that encourage foreign manufacturing in China, including tax breaks and subsidies. Apple’s largest contractor, Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, operates a massive facility in Zhengzhou known as “iPhone City,” where the local government invested over $1 billion in plant construction, worker housing, and infrastructure like roads and power lines. The factory employs more than 200,000 workers and is capable of producing up to half a million iPhones per day.
In addition to high-skill labor, China also boasts strong infrastructure like high-speed rail that enables quick distribution of products and components between facilities. The country’s strong commerce network within the broader Asian region means that screens from South Korea, compasses from Japan and chips from Taiwan can be sent from smaller manufacturers to a major Apple factory in a matter of days instead of weeks.
Apple has been working to diversify its manufacturing away from China in recent years, especially after Covid shutdowns disrupted production significantly and as geopolitical tensions rise. However, progress has been slow. The company began shifting some iPhone assembly to India in 2017 with the iPhone SE. In recent years, more production has moved there, aided by India’s production-linked incentive programs designed to boost domestic manufacturing.
With a fast-growing consumer base and low-cost labor, India offers Apple the potential to replicate its success in China—but not without challenges. The country’s transportation infrastructure remains less efficient and less connected than China’s, and it lacks the advanced tooling expertise needed to support large-scale iPhone assembly.
