Apple is "battling to free stuck shipments" at the Indian port of Chennai after the country ramped up scrutiny of imports from China following rising tensions between the two nations.
Reuters reports that customs officers at the Southern Indian port have held back more than 150 shipments of smartphones and electronic parts from China, which has disrupted operations at plants owned by Apple supplier Foxconn.
While several companies such as Apple and Dell have been battling to free stuck shipments, hundreds of employees at Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn's two plants in the south had no major work to do this week as shipments were delayed, sources said.
Some of the shipments are being slowly cleared, according to Reuters' sources, but the hold-up has reportedly left Foxconn in a "very bad state," resulting in many workers staying at their dormitories because of a lack of work.
The additional checks, which were apparently imposed without any formal order, follow deadly clashes between Chinese and Indian soldiers at the disputed Himalayan border last month, which has led to boycotts and demonstrations.
With concern mounting that the shipping delays are impacting businesses that have already been disrupted by the global health crisis, prominent U.S.-India lobby groups and local industry bodies have urged the Indian government to intervene. Indian government officials said the additional clearance measures for shipments from China would be temporary.
China's Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that it hoped India would "correct its discriminatory actions against Chinese companies immediately," after India banned some Chinese mobile apps amid the border crisis.
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Top Rated Comments
Too bad the U.S. Government doesn’t have the backbone to stand with a fellow democracy, as imperfect as it may be, and do the same thing as India.
It’s not communism (which actually doesn’t exist anywhere in the world today). It’s the totalitarian regime.
Democracies should not let their economies be dependent on totalitarian regimes. I don’t care if it is China for electronics or Saudi Arabia for oil.
(And just for the record, I’m not a socialist nor do I support socialism for the United States.)
Now, Big Corp earns $1000000 and pays 0.000011 % tax, so they pay $11 in taxes.
Technically they pay more taxes than you do, without actually paying taxes. Stupid, right?
the irony in this! how about you stop discrimination against your own people. Yes, Muslims are part of their country