Apple said to use Brazil for lower-tariff iPhones, despite denials
Sao Paulo media claims that reports of iPhone manufacturer Foxconn expanding in Brazil is correct, even though Apple has said it will not increase production, and isn't trying to beat US tariffs.
Foxconn's existing facility in Brazil -- image credit: Foxconn
For years, Apple has been working to reduce its over-reliance on China as a single or major source of iPhones, and those moves have seen its suppliers establish facilities in several other countries. According to Apple, however, its production in Brazil is expressly for making iPhones to be sold locally and as of late April 2025, will continue to be so.
Apple was responding to a report in local publication Exame, which claimed Foxconn was expanding its facilities in order that it could make iPhones for export to the US. The report was unclear on details, but did say that the expansion was at Foxconn's plant in Jundiai, southeast Brazil.
The latest development
Now Exame is basically repeating its original story, if reframing it as the publication having been "anticipating" Foxconn's move. It is presenting the story now as if it is confirmed, though it is still unclear, and there is no cited basis for the claim.
The specific claim is that Foxconn is expanding production in order to export iPhones to the US because Brazil faces a lower "reciprocal" tariff than China. This is also the specific claim that Apple has previously denied.
At present, Foxconn makes the iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and iPhone 15 in Brazil. Anatel, the country's equivalent of the FCC, recently granted authorization for Foxconn's Brazilian plants to make the iPhone 16.
In each of these cases, though, the regulator's permissions only cover the base models of the iPhone. At present, the current iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are not manufactured in Brazil and must be imported into the country for sale.
Apple has said that it is changing its supply and distribution chains, so that, for instance, more Chinese-made iPhones will be sold outside the US. And at the same time, more of the iPhones imported into the States will come from countries with lower tariffs than China.
It's conceivable, then, that Brazilian production might expand, but Apple has only spoken of making these changes with India and Vietnam.
Planning began in 2024
These changes are in response to Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs being calamitously higher than they were expected to be before he returned to the White House. However, Exame also insists that Foxconn began planning its expansion at some unspecified point in 2024.
If this is correct, then the plan reportedly concerns updating the machinery already in place in Foxconn's facilities in the country. It would reportedly also see some revision to Foxconn's local industrial processes, although there is no information about actually adding new facilities or production lines.
Foxconn does get an unspecified amount of local tax relief for its existing manufacturing in the region. That would presumably continue regardless of how much Foxconn expands there, so along with the lower tariffs, production costs could indeed be much more attractive to Apple than in China.
Whether Apple is or is not expanding its iPhone production in Brazil, through Foxconn, it is still facing legal and regulatory pressures from the country. In March 2025, a judge in Brazil gave Apple 90 days in which to enable third-party app stores, or face heavy fines daily.
That ruling was almost immediately overturned on appeal, however.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
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