US President Trump exempts tariffs on electronics, benefiting Apple, Samsung, and Indian manufacturers, boosting exports and global competitiveness.
| Photo Credit:
iStockphoto
The latest announcement by the US President Donald Trump, exempting reciprocal tariffs on smartphones, laptop computers, hard drives, computer processors and memory chips, has given respite to electronics manufacturers in India, especially Apple and Samsung.
According to the electronics industry in India, it is a big respite for the smartphone makers and they expected there would be no extraordinary disruption.
“Time has come to set up capacities. However, long-term trend against China will remain robust. Having said that the incredible shock of the last few weeks is in itself a tectonic event and the realignments are bound to happen without too much blood spilled in our category,” Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), said.
ICEA represents electronics companies in India including Apple, Samsung, HP, Dell, Asus, etc.
Analysts tracking the developments said that President Trump had to exempt these items from the list of reciprocal tariffs because these electronic products are generally not made in the US and setting up manufacturing would take years for them.
“The US tariff exclusions provide much-needed relief for the global technology sector, easing pressure across consumer electronics, semiconductors, and hardware. The move offers meaningful reprieve to tech majors—especially Apple, which was caught in the crossfire—as well as the broader chip and hardware industries,” Prabhu Ram, Head – Industry Intelligence Group at CyberMedia Research (CMR), said.
The exclusion of smartphones and chips is particularly critical in the context of China tariffs. While it addresses near-term concerns, long-term uncertainty around US-China trade dynamics remains, he added.
China still has 20 per cent on iPhones, laptops, tablets, and smart watches. Only reciprocal tariffs has been removed for China. India still has zero tariff on iPhones and all smartphones, laptop and tablets exported to US.
Vietnam also has zero tariff on all Samsung (and others) smartphones, laptops and tablets exported to US. So India and Vietnam are similarly placed on tariffs on the above products and both enjoy 20 per cent tariff advantage over China, the experts said.
However, audio products (headphones, AirPods etc are not covered by the exemption order – so they are subject to 100 per cent+ tariffs when exported from China and 10 per cent tariff when exported from India or Vietnam to US.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology had recently announced that mobile phone exports from India have crossed an all-time high of ₹2-lakh crore in financial year 2024-25 (FY25) marking a 55 per cent growth over the ₹1.29-lakh crore recorded in FY24. And, iPhone shipments alone contributed about ₹1.5-lakh crore, out of the total value of exports in FY25.
According to ICEA, the phenomenal surge in exports is driven primarily by the strategic implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, which has transformed India into one of the world’s fastest-growing mobile manufacturing hubs.
The scheme has attracted substantial global investments, enhancing India’s competitiveness, scale, and capability to integrate deeply into global value chains.
“The export momentum is led by global companies such as Apple and Samsung, which have scaled their manufacturing operations significantly in India. As a result, India’s mobile phone production is estimated to have reached ₹5,25,000 crore in FY25, up significantly from ₹4,22,000 crore in the previous fiscal year,” ICEA added.
More Like This
Published on April 13, 2025
