Apple shifts some iPhone 16e production to Brazil just in case - PhoneArena

No one knows what will eventually happen with the tariff situation on smartphones. On April 12th, a Commerce Department document revealed that the Trump administration had exempted some electronics from its tariffs program. Smartphones, chips, and laptop computers were among the electronic devices excluded from the tariffs. But the last paragraph in our story that day contained a warning that the exemptions could be short-lived.

The bottom of the box for the iPhone 16e in Brazil has a sticker stating that the device is assembled in Brazil. | Image credit-Mac Magazine

Apple isn’t about to idly sit by and risk the return of triple-digit tariffs on Chinese exports. A report published in Portuguese by Mac Magazine and machine translated from Portuguese says that Apple already is producing the lower-priced iPhone 16e in Brazil. The device is being assembled at a Foxconn factory in Jundiaí, Brazil. Units are also being produced in China and India. You can tell where your unit was built by checking out the sticker on the bottom of the product’s box.

Those iPhone 16e units built in Brazil state on the bottom of the box, “Assembled in Brazil – Brazilian Industry.” Other signs that Apple is building some iPhone 16e units in Brazil include a document published by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) which now shows that the iPhone 16e is manufactured in Brazil, India, and in China.

Anatel certificate shows that the iPhone 16e is being built in Brazil, India, and China. | Image credit-Mac Magazine

Lastly, in the online Brazilian Apple Store, the URL used to purchase the iPhone 16e shows a model number ending with BR/A. This typically indicates that a product was assembled in Brazil. Devices shipped from other countries show a code that reads BE/A.

Apple has a lot of work to do if it plans to move iPhone 17 production out of China. Right now, with the exemptions on smartphones presumably still in effect, there is no rush to make any changes but it would be prudent for Apple to have a plan just in case the chaos of “Liberation Day” earlier this month returns. Trump had originally said that there would be no exemptions before exempting smartphones and other devices. Now, he is saying that when the exemption period is over and tariffs return, there will be no exemptions.

Besides the inconsistencies between statements from government officials, the goal of the Trump administration doesn’t jive with its long-stated desire to “Make America Great Again.” That’s because having phones, computers, chips, and flat-screen displays manufactured in the U.S. as Trump wants, wouldn’t work unless Americans were willing to assemble iPhones for less than $4 per hour which is well below the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

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