Trump warns Apple: “We want you building in the US, not India”

US President Donald Trump has expressed discontent with Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, over the tech giant’s reported plans to ramp up iPhone production in India, particularly for handsets destined for the US market.

Speaking during a visit to Qatar on May 15, Trump said he had a “little problem” with Cook over the company’s shifting supply strategy, Caliber.Az reports, citing British media.

He referenced Apple’s earlier commitment to invest $500 billion in the United States and voiced concerns that the company was now diverting significant manufacturing capacity to India.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump told the audience. “I said to him: ‘Tim, you’re my friend. You’re coming here with 500 billion but now you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.’”

Apple has long relied on an intricate global supply chain, with more than 1,000 components sourced worldwide and final assembly primarily taking place in China. Analysts estimate that around 90% of iPhones are currently assembled in China. However, Apple has been gradually increasing production in India, especially as geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to affect trade dynamics.

“I said to Tim… we’ve treated you really good,” Trump continued. “We’ve put up with all the plants that you’ve built in China for years. Now you got to build [for] us. We’re not interested in you building in India — India can take care of themselves. We want you to build here.”

Trump added that Apple was “going to be upping their production in the United States,” though he did not elaborate on specific plans or provide any timeline to support the claim.

Currently, no iPhones are manufactured in the US, and industry experts argue that moving final assembly to the United States would be both impractical and extremely costly. According to estimates by financial services firm Wedbush Securities, the cost of an iPhone could potentially triple if the assembly process were relocated to the US.

Trump also used his remarks to highlight a new trade proposal from India. He said that on May 15, Indian officials had offered the US a trade agreement that would include “no tariffs” on American goods.

“It is very hard to sell in India,” Trump said. “And they are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs.”

India has been pushing for a trade agreement with the US amid a temporary pause on new tariffs that Trump announced on April 9. The proposed 90-day suspension of tariff hikes has opened a narrow window for Washington to negotiate deals with key trading partners.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in recent years campaigned aggressively to turn India into a major global hub for smartphone manufacturing. That effort has begun to bear fruit. In March, Apple’s top India-based suppliers, Foxconn and Tata, shipped nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones to the US — an all-time monthly high. The move was widely interpreted as a strategic attempt to bypass Trump’s expected tariffs on Chinese-made electronics.

By Tamilla Hasanova