Together, they account for three-fourths of the bill-of-materials cost of a smartphone. Vietnam, the world’s second-biggest exporter of handsets after China, sources these and most other components at zero tariffs from free-trade partners. But India, which has few such accords of its own but is still keen to emulate the manufacturing powerhouse in its neighborhood, has customs duties as high as 22%.
The result? Making mobile phones in the world’s most-populous nation now comes embedded with a cost disadvantage of 4%, says the 2023 edition of a comparative study of tariffs by India Cellular & Electronics
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/indias-trade-policy-is-working-great-for-vietnam/articleshow/102884486.cms?from=mdr