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Apple supplier Foxconn is already planning to alter its manufacturing plans in response to President Trump's 10% tariffs on China and impending 25% tariffs on Mexico, and doesn't expect a major impact from the growing trade war.
Speaking to reporters in Taiwan on Wednesday, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu confirmed the company is modifying its manufacturing, which includes factories in Mexico, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
"I think Trump hopes to bring manufacturing in the US. To respond to manufacturing in the US, [Foxconn's Hon Hai Technology] Group will work with our partners together in different places [in] the US, where there will be some related arrangements," Liu said.
"These arrangements...are currently underway,” he added without elaborating. “So for the Group, if we don't manufacture here, we’ll manufacture over there. So the overall impact shouldn’t be very large.” That said, Liu noted the tariffs could disrupt the world’s economy.
So far, Trump has placed a 10% tariff on goods from China, where Foxconn operates some of its largest factories, including those that build Apple iPhones. This has caused price hikes for Nvidia’s latest graphics cards, the RTX 5000 series, according to Newegg.
Trump has delayed a 25% tariff on Mexican (and Canadian) goods until March 4. In the meantime, Liu says Foxconn is making preparations in both Mexico and the US should that happen.
Trump also plans to tariff foreign-made chips, including those from Taiwan, in an effort to turn the US into a manufacturing giant. But building electronics factories takes years and billions of dollars.
During the first Trump administration, Foxconn planned to build a $10 billion display plant in Wisconsin. However, the company mostly abandoned the project, reportedly due to a lack of LCD suppliers in the country. That said, Foxconn still uses the facility for manufacturing data servers.