Record fall: Chinese smartphone exports to the US reached the level of 2011 due to customs pressure

In April, Chinese smartphone exports to the US decreased by 72%, falling to their lowest level since 2011. The reason was the US customs policy, which increased tensions in trade relations with China and forced companies, including Apple, to more actively move production from China to India.

This is reported by UNN with reference to Bloomberg.

DetailsAccording to the publication, in April, smartphone exports from China to the US fell sharply – to a level not seen since 2011.

Shipments of mobile devices, including iPhones, decreased by 72% (to less than $700 million). This drop significantly exceeds the overall reduction in Chinese exports to the US, which amounted to 21% over the same period, according to Chinese customs data.

The reduction in exports reflects the effects of the US’s tough tariff policy, which peaked at 145% duties on some Chinese goods as part of the Donald Trump administration’s initiatives. The blow fell specifically on the technology sector, in particular electronics supply chains.

According to the publication, there are growing fears of a new large-scale trade war that could seriously undermine bilateral trade between the US and China.

In 2024, its volume amounted to $690 billion. And recently, Beijing directly accused Washington of disrupting negotiations in Geneva by imposing sanctions against Huawei and restrictions on the export of artificial intelligence chips, the publication says.

Apple “transferred” production to India instead of the USA Meanwhile, Apple, one of the main players in the market, accelerated the transfer of iPhone production to India — the company’s largest production base outside of China.

Over the past year, exports of telephone components from China to India have increased fourfold. This trend contradicts Trump’s calls to return iPhone production to the US. Although Apple still does not have any iPhone factories in America, the former president is pressuring the company, despite the fact that such a move looks unlikely in the near future.

Let’s addIn 2023, smartphones, laptops and lithium-ion batteries were the main items of US imports from China, while America exported, among other things, oil, soybeans and equipment for the production of semiconductors to China. But current tensions threaten to change this trade structure forever.

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