This story belongs to the Fortune India Magazine May 2025 issue.
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TOWARDS END-MARCH, American consumer electronics giant Apple wanted the 30-hour customs clearance time at Chennai airport reduced to six hours. The company was racing against time as chartered flights to the U.S., loaded with iPhones, had to be flown out before April 9, the deadline U.S. President Donald Trump had set for levying a 26% additional tariff (as part of his global ‘reciprocal tariff’ agenda) on products made in India and exported to that country.
By the time Trump decided to exempt mobile phones and some electronics items from additional tax on April 12, Apple is estimated to have shipped about 1.5 million made-in-India iPhones to the U.S.