President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has “a little problem” with Apple expanding production in India instead of in the United States.
“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday, I said to him ‘Tim you’re my friend, I’ve treated you very good,’ You’re coming in with $500 billion,’” Trump said during a Thursday news conference in Qatar, according to a video posted to X.
Apple announced in February it would invest $500 billion in production facilities that included a manufacturing facility in Texas.
Foxconn, which is Apple’s main supplier, has received the approval of India’s government to build a $433 million semiconductor plant that is scheduled to open in 2027, according to the New York Post.
“I told Tim Cook we’re not interested in you building (Apple) in India, they can take care of themselves, you up your production here (US),” claimed Trump. He added that India was one of the highest tariff-imposing countries & has now made an offer to reduce tariffs significantly… pic.twitter.com/11p9okfjTg
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) May 15, 2025
“I don’t want you building in India,” Trump said he told Apple’s CEO. “You can build in India if you want, to take care of India, because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world. It’s very hard to sell in India.”
Trump noted that India and the United States are currently in trade talks to change that.
“They’ve offered us a deal where basically, they’re willing to, literally, charge us no tariffs. So we go from the highest tariff … to a point where they have actually told us that there will be no tariffs,” Trump said.
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Trump then resumed his revelation of his conversation with Cook.
The president continued: “I said to Tim, I said, ‘Tim look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you built in China for years, now you got build [with] us.
“We’re not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves … we want you to build here.”
Trump then added, “they’re going to be upping their production in the United States. Apple. So Apple’s already in for $500 billion but they’re going to be upping their production.”
Apple has not commented on Trump’s remarks, per Axios.
According to CNN, Apple has been planning to increase iPhone production in India to evade tariffs that Trump had put on China.
Cook said on an earning call that “the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin.”
CNN wrote that an iPhone made in America could cost $3,500 due to the higher costs of manufacturing in America, citing Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities.
India currently makes about 20 percent of Apple’s iPhones, according to The New York Times
The Times report said India is seeking to increase its share of the iPhone market to 30 percent.
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