Apple shares were up less than 1 per cent to $194.40 in New York Tuesday morning.
Apple has not given Hon Hai instructions to move production out of China, but it is capable of moving lines elsewhere according to customers' needs, Liu added. The company will respond swiftly and rely on localised manufacturing in response to the trade war, just as it foresaw the need to build a base in the US state of Wisconsin two years ago, he said.
It's unclear if India will ever become a major production base for Apple's marquee device. Foxconn is now running quality tests for the iPhone Xr series there and plans to begin mass production at a facility in the suburbs of Chennai. Older models are already assembled at a Wistron plant in Bangalore.
Foxconn has also agreed to build a 13,000-worker facility in Wisconsin in exchange for more than $4.5 billion in government incentives. But that project has since come under criticism for low-paying jobs, sudden dismissals and ever-changing goals. On Tuesday, executives reaffirmed that employment goal, saying construction remained on schedule and that it will hire as many as 2,000 Americans by the end of 2020.
It will also start making networking and server products for the US market by the end of next year, on top of LCDs starting next year, Liu said.