Apple Inc. will reportedly start manufacturing some of its top-end iPhones in India, a move that could better insulate its supply chain against the trade dispute between the United States and China.

Three sources cited by Reuters today said the company has tapped Foxconn for the project. Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., is already Apple’s largest manufacturing partner. It assembles a full half of the world’s iPhones at a single production complex in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

Apple and Foxconn will reportedly bring the planned Indian manufacturing operation online as early as 2019. That means the production lines may be ready in time for the launch of the next iPhones, which are usually announced around September.

The sources said that Foxconn will make the devices in an existing plant where it currently produces handsets for China’s Xiaomi Corp., the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker. There’s no word on exactly what role the facility will play in the iPhone production process. It might be set up to handle device assembly like Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant, but Apple might potentially also shift other tasks such as component production to the complex to help mitigate risks from U.S.-China tensions.

What’s clear, however, is that the Indian operation will have a fairly substantial role in Apple’s supply chain. A government official told Reuters that Foxconn plans to invest the equivalent of $356 million in the plant as part of the initiative and could hire as many as 25,000 workers.

Beyond making Apple’s supply chain more resilient, the project could put it in a better position to target the Indian smartphone market. Until now, the company has produced only low-end iPhones such as the 2016 iPhone 6S in the country.

The project also holds strategic significance for Foxconn. The firm, which maintains the bulk of its manufacturing operations in China, has named the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing as the single biggest challenge facing its business.

Photo: Apple