China's economy could reportedly suffer if US President Donald Trump pushed its vow to move Apple's iPhone production back home, Advantech President Chaney Ho told Nikkei Asian Review in an interview.
"China is likely to feel a huge impact if Trump sticks to his pledge to have iPhones assembled in the US," he said, noting that it could lead to a number of job loss and eventually the Chinese economy would continue to slide.
After Trump's electoral victory in November, he reportedly talked with Apple's CEO Tim Cook to build factories in the US instead of China or Vietnam. Trump also allegedly offered incentives like large tax cuts to spice the deal up, NYT reported. With this, Ho said it is indeed possible for Apple to move its iPhone manufacturing process to the US.
If Apple worked out with Trump, it could please its shareholders as money will be brought back to the US. However, what would not be appealing is the expected high cost of iPhone production when it moves stateside, the Mashable reported.
With many of Apple's components supplied by different firms across the world, it would be hard to predict how high the price hike would be. But MIT Technology Review's June 2016 forecast said that the move could add about 5 percent of the overall cost of an iPhone 6S Plus.
Trump has always been vocal of his goal to lure American firms to domesticate their products. He also threatened to impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods. But an opinion piece from Global Times countered the warning, saying that sales of iPhone and other American goods could also suffer.
Many economists argued that while Trump says that his plan is good economics and could open more job opportunities in the US, it would hurt American consumers more than it would hurt Chinese businesses, according to BBC. In fact, research firm Capital Economics said that consumers in the US may even be obliged to pay up to 10 percent more if tariffs for Chinese-made goods are increased.
Meanwhile, don't be boring and check some rumored specs of Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 model below: