After Apple was threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump that if they don't sell "Made in America" iPhones in the U.S., they will face a 25% tariff, many said that Trump is targeting only Apple and not Android manufacturers. While clouds of tariffs were also allegedly seen over Android smartphone makers, they weren't directly mentioned.
Now, President Trump has extended the tariff threat over to Samsung and other Android OEMs as well. During a press briefing at the White House, President Trump was asked by a reporter why he was singling out one company, indirectly asking why Android manufacturers have been left out.
To this, President Trump said that the 25% tariff threat isn't correct if it is imposed only on American companies. He then added that the 25% tariff will be applicable to any company, including Samsung and most likely other Android OEMs, that makes smartphones.
Trump said (via Bloomberg),
It would be more it would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair. So anybody that makes that product and that'll start on, I guess, the end of June, it'll come out. I think we have that appropriately done by the end of June. So if they make that product now, again, when they build their plant here, there's no tariff.
This means that Samsung, which manufactures its smartphones mostly in South Korea, Vietnam, India, and Brazil, will also face 25% tariffs if they don't start manufacturing phones for U.S. customers in America.
President Trump clarified that he doesn't have any problems with smartphone manufacturers making phones in India or anywhere else. But if they have to sell smartphones in the U.S., they have to face tariffs or build "Made in America" phones.
With this, all of the smartphone OEMs are now on the radar, and they now have one more headache to resolve, aside from the different issues they might have internally.
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