Why can't the iPhone be manufactured in the US? Global supply chains are difficult to relocate.

The article titled "Why the Trump Administration Can't Manufacture Apple's iPhone in the US" was recently published on the website of the British Financial Times. The article states that by simply looking at the internals of the iPhone, it is clear how complex Apple's supply chain has become - which is why analysts believe that the "vision" of bringing manufacturing back to the US through tariffs is unrealistic. The article mentions that the US government now hopes for Apple to produce smartphones in the US, with some predicting that the cost of assembling an iPhone entirely in the US could reach up to $3,500. However, the difficulty of moving Apple's production to the US is not solely due to labor costs. The bigger issue lies in the complex global supply chain that has been established over decades. Today, the supply chain of the iPhone utilizes specialized technologies accumulated in specific component areas from multiple countries and regions, with China's supplier cluster as the backbone. Experts say that uprooting this mix of organization, scale, and skills during Trump's presidency is unrealistic. According to a report from Canadian tech insights company, Apple is "highly unlikely to move assembly of the iPhone to the US", as "the smartphone supply chain is deeply rooted in China". While Apple may find alternative manufacturers for some components, some parts are exclusively produced, and moving their production to the US would require years, if not decades, of coordinated investments in automation, tools, infrastructure, and training. Encouraging foreign component manufacturers to build factories in the US will also be a challenge, as even constructing new iPhone factories in the US would be a "nightmare" due to the tariffs imposed by the US.