The massive tariffs being levied on Chinese goods put Apple—one of America’s most valuable and iconic companies—at serious risk. Nearly 90% of its products are made in China in high-tech factories that span hundreds of buildings and took decades to build, equip, and staff. With the imposition of steep tariffs, the cost of Apple’s products could nearly double. That’s not just unsustainable—it’s existential.
Tim Cook’s great claim to fame has been his mastery of manufacturing and supply chain management. But he, and Apple, placed their bets almost entirely on China. That strategy now looks like an Achilles’ heel. The tariffs threaten to unravel the model that allowed Apple to dominate the global tech market.
And what’s the solution? According to some in the current administration, the answer is simple: “Just build it in America.” That suggestion isn’t just naïve—it’s economically, logistically absurd, and plain stupid.
How Did We Get Here?
Over a decade ago, I visited one of the many Apple-Foxconn campuses in China. The scale was staggering—like a small city devoted entirely to manufacturing. Dormitories for workers, shopping centers, parks, movie theaters, gyms, bus service—an entire ecosystem had been built around Apple’s production needs. Foxconn recruited hundreds of thousands of workers, many from rural areas, and created a self-contained community to support them.
Why China? Cost, yes—but also scale, speed, and proximity. Apple wasn’t just chasing cheap labor. They were following a long-established model: build products close to where their components are made. And in cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai, you’ll find an unrivaled concentration of component manufacturers—circuit boards, displays, batteries, moldings—many within an hour’s drive of one another. These suppliers compete fiercely, driving down prices and driving up innovation. That’s not something you can recreate in Texas or Ohio with a few subsidies and patriotic ambition.
During my career, I toured dozens of electronics factories across China, Taiwan, and Japan. The idea that this was all “slave labor” is a lazy trope. What I saw was advanced engineering, sophisticated logistics, and manufacturing precision that rivaled anything in the West. It made sense for Apple—and nearly every other tech company—to locate production where the entire ecosystem existed. But Apple was not a leader here. They were a follower that began years earlier.
The First Apple Notebook Built in China
I was at Apple before the iPhone, during a time when we were struggling to keep up with the PC world. Our notebooks were more expensive, less feature-rich, and slower to develop. We had about 3% market share.
Meanwhile, companies like Dell, HP, Compaq, Toshiba, Sony, and Compaq were producing laptops in modern Taiwanese-owned factories in China. Many of these notebooks, despite the brand labels, were coming off the same lines in Shanghai. The factories were massive, efficient, and staffed by talented engineers who knew how to get a product into production fast.
I pitched my boss on taking a new Apple notebook concept to one of these companies for the very first time. We partnered with Quanta, a leading manufacturer at the time. I brought a team of Apple engineers—specialists in displays, keyboards, batteries—to meet with their Quanta counterparts.
The reaction was telling. My team, confident in their expertise, expected to drive the product specs. But within minutes, they were humbled. The Quanta engineers introduced them to components that were more advanced, cheaper, and better-performing than anything we had access to in Cupertino. Long-life batteries we didn’t know existed. High-end displays ready for mass production. Keyboards that cost a quarter of what we were paying—with identical feel and reliability.
That notebook—the first Apple product manufactured in China—went from concept to market in ten months – record at the time. It featured interchangeable drives and batteries, finally putting us on par with PC competitors. And we didn’t need to reinvent every part—we leveraged components that were already being produced at scale.
The Illusion of “Just Bring It Back”
To think we can now replicate this entire industrial ecosystem in the U.S. is pure fantasy. You can’t just sprinkle factories across the Midwest and expect innovation and efficiency to follow. The U.S. lacks not only the scale, but also the supply chain depth, workforce specialization, and logistical infrastructure that’s been built up in China over decades.
Tim Cook managed to delay the last round of tariffs by courting President Trump, securing exemptions and buying time. But the landscape has changed. The current administration is under pressure to act tough on China, and the political winds have shifted.
Will Cook be able to carve out another exception for Apple? And what might China do in response if Apple is seen as a bargaining chip? Beijing could retaliate by targeting Apple’s operations, suppliers, or even its domestic sales in China.
Make no mistake: Apple is now in the crosshairs of a serious trade war. And there’s no easy way out. Some might say Apple is cooked.