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U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized Apple for shifting its production to India. He said he recently confronted Apple CEO Tim Cook about the company’s growing operations outside the United States (US).
“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump told an audience. “I said to him, ‘my friend, I treated you very good… but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.’”
Apple has increased production in India as part of a plan to reduce its reliance on China with nearly 90 percent of iPhones are currently made in China, but Apple aims to make 25 percent of them in India within the next few years.
Trump’s comments come after Apple pledged to invest $500 billion in the U.S., a move first announced in February. However, he believes more of Apple’s manufacturing should happen inside the U.S.
“I said to Tim, ‘Look, we treated you good. Now you’ve got to build here. India can take care of themselves,’” Trump added.
Trump’s remarks also reflect broader concerns over U.S.-India trade relations. He called India “one of the highest tariff nations” but claimed they offered the U.S. a new deal with zero tariffs on American goods.
Meanwhile, under Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy, a 26 percent tariff on Indian imports was introduced in April but has been temporarily lowered until July.
Apple’s key supplier, Foxconn, recently received approval to build a semiconductor plant in India through a joint venture with HCL Group.
Experts argue that manufacturing iPhones in the U.S. would dramatically increase prices. Some estimates suggest a U.S.-made iPhone could cost between $1,500 to $3,500.
For now, Apple continues to make a limited number of products in the U.S., such as the Mac Pro and server units for its AI system in Texas.
