Tariffs. This word carries a lot more weight and significance now than it did a few months ago, that’s for sure. Honestly, I didn’t understand the extent that tariffs could affect our daily lives as American until I started staying up to date with the daily news and updates of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Tariffs are a dense topic and can be complicated to understand, so here’s a quick overview of them and why they have gained so much attention recently: A tariff is a government-imposed tax on imported or exported goods, aimed at controlling trade and protecting domestic industries. For decades, Trump has argued the U.S. should use tariffs to boost its economy, saying they will encourage U.S. consumers to buy more American-made goods and lead to huge levels of investment in the country. Basically, Trump believes tariffs will reduce the gap between the value of goods the U.S. buys from other countries and the value of those it sells to them.
In early 2025, Trump implemented a series of significant tariffs affecting major U.S. trading partners, including China, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and Taiwan. These tariffs triggered retaliatory measures from other countries, intensifying global trade tensions. Between January and April 2025, the U.S. trade-weighted average tariff surged from 2% to an estimated 24% — its highest level in more than a century.
Adding a layer of further complexity to the issue, there is a growing concern among Gen Z as many young people wonder what they’re supposed to do to prepare for the effects of the tariffs on their everyday lives. Speaking from experience, college students take our favorite and most-used products very seriously — and one of our most prized possessions is our phones, which (spoiler alert) aren’t typically made in the USA. This is why so many young people are currently wondering the same thing: Will the tariffs raise iPhone prices?
Girl… the tariffs??? https://t.co/arixz0Jexx
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) April 7, 2025
TBH, there’s no clear-cut answer yet, but here’s what’s known so far: As much as 80% of iPhones are produced in China, which now faces a 145% tariff on its goods imported to the U.S. If the now-extremely high costs to ship these goods into the U.S. are passed on to consumers, iPhone prices in the U.S. could rise by hundreds of dollars. According to an April 10 news report from BBC News, analyst Dan Ives referenced estimates costs even tripling.Â
But whether or not the costs are passed onto consumers remains to be seen. So far, Apple has not revealed yet whether it plans to increase its prices on iPhones and other devices in order to offset the costs of the tariffs, but Forrester Research principal analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee gave the BBC some insight into Apple’s potential next steps. “As a company with lucrative margins on its devices, Apple can absorb some of the tariff-induced cost increases without significant financial impact, at least in the short term,” Chatterjee said. However, Chatterjee also noted that the company’s strong branding and consumer loyalty may allow it to pass costs to consumers without receiving excessive backlash — people may just suck it up and pay whatever they need to in order to get their next iPhone.
According to the same BBC article, in response to the onset of the tariffs, Apple has looked to increase production of India-produced devices and has shipped more than 600 tons of iPhones from India to the U.S. However, the Trump administration will also be adding a 26% reciprocal tariff to India imports, leaving American consumers feeling hopeless, with no real way to escape the tariffs’ costly effects on their pocketbooks should they need to buy a new iPhone in the near future.
Adding to all the growing uncertainty, on April 9, 2025, Trump announced a 90-day pause on all reciprocal tariffs except those imposed on China, which may provide some relief on consumers, but also makes it harder to know what the future will look like for buying goods made outside the country. Plus. the fact that Trump has remained steadfast in the imposition of tariffs on China doesn’t really bode well for the future of iPhone prices — I mean, even if Apple does end up moving the bulk its production elsewhere, it would take quite a while for that to actually happen.
All this to say, whether or not the tariffs will raise iPhone prices remains to be seen — but if you’re of the “better safe than sorry” mindset, you might want to start mentally preparing for your next phone upgrade to cost more than your last one.