Trump threatens 25% tariff on Apple if iPhones are not made in US
President Donald Trump issued a strong warning to Apple on Friday, threatening the tech giant with a 25% tariff if it does not shift iPhone production to the United States.
“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump posted Friday morning on Truth Social, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
He added: “If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”
Trump last week during his Middle East trip said he was displeased with Cook, Apple’s CEO, over the company’s plan to manufacture iPhones set to be sold in the United States at newly built plants in India.
Over the past several years, Apple had been working to diversify its production capabilities. Some iPhone production had already moved to India, and Cook on Apple’s earnings call with investors earlier this month said he expected “the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin.”
On that call, Cook said he expected Apple would face a tariff burden of up to $900 million this quarter. However, it could have been significantly worse: Apple and other US tech companies scored a big win last month when Trump exempted electronics from his massive tariffs on China.
Despite lowering his tariff to at least 30% on most Chinese goods — down from 145% earlier this month — a 10% universal tariff remains on the majority of goods entering the United States. Roughly 90% of Apple’s iPhone production and assembly is based in China, according to Wedbush Securities’ estimates.
Trump met with Cook in Riyadh at the beginning of the president’s Middle East trip last week. In Qatar, he called out Cook for his plan to build US-bound iPhones in India.
“I had a little problem with Tim Cook,” Trump said last week in Qatar. “I said to him, ‘Tim, you’re my friend. I treated you very good. You’re coming in with $500 billion.’ But now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.’”
Cook met with Trump once again at the White House on Tuesday, an administration official told CNN. The official did not divulge the subject matter of the meeting.
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