Shares in China-listed Apple suppliers fall after Trump’s tariff threats

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SHANGHAI ((Reuters) -China-listed Apple supplier stocks lost ground on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on imported iPhones. 

Shares in Luxshare, which assembles iPhones and makes AirPods, fell 2.2% while Chinese mobile screen maker Lens Tech lost 1.8%. Airpod maker Goertek declined 1.1%.

Trump threatened on Friday to ratchet up his trade war again, warning  Apple he may slap a 25% levy on any iPhones sold, but not made, in the U.S. as part of his administration’s goal of re-shoring jobs. 

His threat, along with a second that pushed for a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1, has raised fears that the trade war that the U.S. is waging could intensify again after weeks of de-escalation.

The White House paused most of the punishing tariffs Trump announced in early April against nearly every country in the world after investors furiously sold off U.S. assets including government bonds and the U.S. dollar. Trump left in place a 10% baseline tax on most imports, and later reduced his massive 145% tax on Chinese goods to 30%.

Apple is speeding up plans to make most iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India by the end of 2026 to navigate potentially higher tariffs in China.

But the odds on moving production to the U.S. are slimmer. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS last month that the work of “millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones” would come to the United States and be automated, creating jobs for skilled trade workers such as mechanics and electricians.

But he later told CNBC that Cook told him that doing so requires technology not yet available.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue and Edwina Gibbs)