📱 The $3,500 iPhone? Why “Made in the USA” Is More Fantasy Than Factory

Where political slogans meet market math.

Trump says we can build iPhones in America.
Apple says... nothing.
Wall Street says: Y’all sure about that?

After the tariff chaos of early April, the White House floated the idea of a “Made in the USA” iPhone. Sounds patriotic. But experts say the math just doesn’t compute — unless you're ready to drop $3,500 for a new iPhone.

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🔩 Let’s Talk Costs:

• 🇺🇸 U.S. labor cost to assemble/test an iPhone: ~$200

• 🇨🇳 China labor cost: ~$40

• 🇺🇸 Minimum wage in California: $16.50/hr

• 🇨🇳 Average iPhone factory pay: ~$3.63/hr

According to Bank of America, just moving the iPhone 16 Pro’s labor to the U.S. could raise the price 25%.
Wedbush goes further: a fully American-made iPhone could cost $3,500+, assuming $30B in supply chain shifts.

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🏭 Why Apple Can’t Just “Bring Jobs Back”

1. China has the scale. Foxconn builds 200M+ iPhones a year with dorms, shuttles, and surge hiring.

2. The U.S. doesn’t have the skills. Tooling engineers — the ones who turn blueprints into product — are rare in America.

3. Infrastructure gap. In China, the entire supply chain lives next door. In the U.S.? It barely exists.

“In China, you can fill football fields with tooling engineers,” Tim Cook once said.
“In the U.S., maybe a room.”

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🧱 The Political Theater

Trump's pushing for onshoring. Apple’s dodging with charm.

• Apple already spends $500B+ in the U.S., including AI servers in Houston.

• Cook attended Trump’s inauguration and gave him a plant tour in 2019.

• The result? Temporary tariff exemptions and minimal manufacturing on U.S. soil.

Don’t be surprised if Apple promises to make AirTags or HomePods in Texas to score more exemptions — just like it did with the $3,000 Mac Pro in 2019.

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🔌 Global Parts, Global Problems

Even if you assemble the iPhone in the U.S., most of its parts still come from Asia:

• Chips: Taiwan (TSMC)

• Displays: South Korea (LG, Samsung)

• Camera, glass, battery: China

All those imported parts? Still tariff targets.

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💬 Staten Take:

• “Made in America” sounds great until it slaps a 3x price tag on your phone.

• Apple’s play isn’t onshoring — it’s diversifying (India, Vietnam, Brazil).

• The only thing Trump’s tariff pressure might produce? A HomePod with a flag on it.

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Bottom Line:
The U.S. makes iPhones possible — through design, innovation, and brand. But as of 2025? We still don’t make them — and building that from scratch isn’t happening anytime soon.

Until next time,
— The Bandicoots