Trump's tariffs may have just killed Nokia in the U.S.

Finnish phone maker HMD Global is downsizing in the U.S. — and Nokia-brand phones may go along with it.

In a statement to The Verge, HMD — which makes Nokia devices — said it is scaling back its U.S. operations due to the “challenging geopolitical and economic environment.” 

The Verge reported that although HMD didn’t directly address what will happen to its products, its online store is no longer live and product pages no longer have functioning "where to buy" buttons.

However, HMD said in its statement that it will still honor warranty coverage and service for existing products in the U.S. 

Founded in 2016, HMD bought Nokia’s old feature-phone division from Microsoft for $350 million after Microsoft bought the company’s mobile devices division in 2013. Today, HMD sells both feature phones and smartphones. 

The “challenging” economic environment HMD described seems to reference President Donald Trump’s trade war. In April, Trump announced a slew of tariffs on countries across the world and declared it “Liberation Day.”

In a March 2024 interview with India-based financial news outlet Moneycontrol, HMD COO Alain Lejeune said the company was moving its production to India. “There is only one place today where we are building a bigger space — India, where we want to do our manufacturing for export," the executive said.

India and the U.S. are currently discussing a deal that would lessen tariffs levied on India to below 20%, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Friday.

As far as the iconic Nokia name goes, Lejeune said in the interview, “We're not giving up on the Nokia brand and are committed.” 

However, Trump’s global tariffs might trigger a different fate for the nostalgic brand, at least in the U.S.

HMD didn't immediately respond to Quartz's request for comment on the fate of Nokia.