Google is set to shift production of Pixel devices from Vietnam to India as it contends with the US’s uncertain global tariff regime, according to reports from the Economic Times. In 2019, it shifted production from China to Vietnam to avoid the tariffs imposed during US President Donald Trump’s first term.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reportedly held talks with two of its local manufacturers, Dixon Technologies and Foxconn, to grow its production capacity in India. Already, Indian plants produce upwards of 40,000 Pixel phones per month for the domestic market, a number that would significantly increase with this new production push.
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The move is set to affect devices destined for the US market. As part of Trump’s new tariff regime, imports from Vietnam face a 46% tariff when entering the US, and goods from China face a 145% tariff. There is a temporary 90-day delay in place, except for the 10% baseline tariffs and those imposed on China.
For years, Western companies have been shifting manufacturing away from China as geopolitical tensions with the US have risen. Export-led economies in the region, like Vietnam and Bangladesh, benefited from this shift. This trade rerouting, however, has been criticised by US China hawks, who felt these conduit economies became a sort of backdoor for cheap Chinese goods. Southeast Asian economies were given particularly high rates during Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ tariff announcement in early April.
India faces a 26% tariff rate, which, despite being higher than before, is almost half of Vietnam’s The industry executives who spoke to the Economic Times also said Alphabet had plans to localise the production of components such as batteries, chargers, enclosures and fingerprint sensors in India, since most of these are currently imported.
US Vice President JD Vance is currently in India for trade talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They say they are making progress towards a bilateral deal that would help India avoid more tariffs.
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