Trump: Apple can build in India but sell in US with tariffs.
‘Apple can build in India but must pay tariffs to sell in US’, says Trump. US President has said that while Apple is free to build manufacturing plants in India, the tech giant will face tariffs if it sells those products in the United States. Trump made these remarks during the signing of executive orders aimed at boosting US nuclear power, emphasising his stance on keeping iPhone production domestic. “But I had an understanding with Tim (Cook) that he wouldn’t be doing this. He said he’s going to India to build plants. I said, That’s okay to go to India, but you’re not going to sell here without tariffs. And that’s the way it is,” Trump said on Friday. He added, “We’re talking about the iPhone. If they’re going to sell it in America, I want it to be built in the United States.”
Earlier on Friday, Trump took to social media to reiterate his demand, warning Apple of a 25 per cent tariff if the company does not manufacture iPhones destined for the US market domestically.
He said, “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25 per cent must be paid by Apple to the US. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
This tough stance follows Trump’s remarks last week in Doha during his West Asia visit, where he expressed frustration over Apple’s plans to expand manufacturing in India instead of the US. Speaking to top executives, Trump said, “We have Apple, as you know, that’s coming in, and I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday… I said to him, Tim, you’re my friend. I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion but now I hear you building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.” The US President further said, “You can build in India if you want to take care of India because India is the highest, one of the highest tariff nations in the world. It’s very hard to sell into India. And they’ve (India) offered us a deal where, basically they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook had earlier clarified the company’s production plans during the Q2 2025 earnings call. Cook explained that the tariffs Apple faces are based on the country of origin of its products. Cook said, “For the June quarter, we do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin and Vietnam to be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods products sold in the US.”
Industry analysts see Trump’s stance as a continuation of his well-known push for localising supply chains, but they also highlight the challenges involved. Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, said last week, “This is a familiar Trump tactic: He wants to push Apple to localise more and build a supply chain in the US, which is not going to happen overnight. Making in the US will also be much more expensive than assembling iPhones in India.”
Neil Shah, Vice-President at Counterpoint Research, noted Apple’s ongoing efforts in India. “Apple has been doing a lot of groundwork in India, which has helped it successfully manage some of the US iPhone demand from its India production facilities. In terms of capacity, India has enough to potentially meet all US iPhone demand in the future, but the ecosystem needs to be ramped up,” Shah said. Shah added that Apple’s plans include expanding production beyond iPhones in India. “We will see more efforts towards this as well as products beyond iPhones. We expect made-in-India iPhones to account for 25–30 per cent of global iPhone shipments in 2025, as compared to 18 per cent in 2024.”
