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Apple’s main India suppliers Foxconn and Tata shipped nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones to the US in March, an all-time high, as the US company airlifted devices to bypass President Donald Trump’s impending tariffs, customs data shows.
The smartphone maker stepped up production in India and chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tonnes of iPhones to the US to ensure sufficient inventory in one of its biggest markets on concern Trump’s tariffs would push up costs.
In April, the US administration imposed 26 per cent duties on imports from India, much lower than the more than 100pc China was facing at the time. Trump has since paused most duties, except for China for three months.
Foxconn, Apple’s main India supplier, exported smartphones worth $1.31bn in March, its highest ever for a single month and equal to shipments for January and February combined, according to commercially available customs data reviewed by Reuters.
This included Apple iPhone 13, 14, 16 and 16e models, and took Foxconn’s total shipments from India to the US this year to $5.3bn.
Exports from Tata Electronics, another Apple supplier, stood at $612 million in March, around 63pc higher than the previous month, and included iPhone 15 and 16 models.
Customs data showed all Foxconn shipments to the US in March were by air from the Chennai Air Cargo terminal, and landed at various locations, including Los Angeles and New York, with Chicago receiving the majority.
Trump later granted exclusions from steep tariffs on smartphones and some other electronics imported largely from China, but later indicated that those exemptions will likely be short-lived.
To expedite shipments, Apple lobbied Indian airport authorities to cut the time needed to clear customs at Chennai airport in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, to six hours down from 30 hours.
At least six cargo jets were used in the operation which one source described was a way to “beat the tariffs”.
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