A new report from Reuters today says that Apple supplier Luxshare is considering moving some production outside of China, including to the United States, in response to Trump’s tariffs.
According to the report, Luxshare co-founder Wang Laichun made the comments during a call with analysts on Wednesday. Laichun explained that Trump’s tariffs will “have little impact on profits and revenue” for Luxshare, as the company exports “only a small amount of finished products to the United States.”
Today, Luxshare has factories and research centers in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States. The company handles assembly of select iPhone models and production of AirPods and Apple Watch.
“If there is a commercial guarantee and we are able to conduct a good evaluation, we do not rule out having some products being localised to meet the needs of the U.S. market,” Wang said during the call. She added that any investment in North America would require “long-term development and safety considerations,” and only apply to “products made with a significant degree of automation.” The company is also considering an increased investment in Southeast Asia.
The company needed 1 to 1-1/2 years to build and start up a new production line in places where it already had a factory, she said.
Asked if tariffs would be borne jointly by businesses in the supply chain and end consumers, Wang said:
“To date, all hardware manufacturers do not foot the bill for tariffs or logistics warehousing … Nothing like this has ever happened and I think it will be the same in future.”
But she acknowledged concerns that customers would seek lower prices because of the tariffs, adding, “Customers have always collaborated with suppliers on how to enhance competitiveness.”
9to5Mac’s Take
Luxshare’s comments don’t paint a particularly clear picture of what its plans actually are in response to Trump’s tariffs. This, of course, shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering how haphazardly Trump’s tariffs have been implemented.
The comments about moving any sort of production to the United States read to me as Luxshare dangling a vague promise in front of Trump to try and gain immediate reprieve from these tariffs, without actually laying out a plan for US investment.
Also note that it only sounds like Luxshare is interested in shifting production that relies on “a significant degree of automation” to the United States. That would not lead to the type of job creation Trump seems to think his tariffs will achieve.
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