On Friday, May 23, Trump, 78, shared a post on his Truth Social platform, suggesting that he’d previously had conversations with Cook, 64, about his plans to manufacture and build the phones in India.
“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s [sic] 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 wrote.
President Donald Trump has said he’s planning to hit Apple with a 25% tariff if the company fails to start building iPhones in the United States.
It was reported last month that the American company was planning to move production to India after Trump bumped China’s import tax up, per Reuters.
Apple had been making approximately 80% of the iPhones sold in the U.S. in China, the news agency stated.
President Donald Trump has issued a warning to Apple CEO Tim Cook, insisting he’s going to hit the company with a 25% tariff if they don’t start building iPhones in the United States.
“If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank your [sic] for your attention to this matter!” he added.
Apple didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.
It was reported last month that Apple, which is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., was aiming to make most of its iPhones sold in the U.S. at factories in India by the end of 2026, per Reuters. The plan to move production to India came after Trump bumped China’s import tax up amid his market-plummeting tariff plan.
Reuters stated Apple wanted to speed up the plans to move production in a bid to “navigate [the] potentially higher tariffs” in China, where they previously made approximately 80% of the iPhones sold in the U.S. The news agency claimed that Apple sells over 60 million iPhones in the U.S. every year.
Experts have warned that if Apple attempts to transfer its manufacturing to the U.S., where there is a much smaller ecosystem for tech production than in Asia, the cost of its products are likely to skyrocket.
Tech analyst Dan Ives has repeatedly told outlets like CNN and CNBC that iPhones could triple in price if Apple tries meeting Trump’s demands, costing somewhere around $3,500 each with the United States’ current production capabilities.
Ives also told CNN in April that it would cost Apple approximately $30 billion and take about three years just to transition 10% of its supply chain to the States.
Trump’s new threat toward Apple comes after he spoke about a recent conversation he had with Cook.
“I said to him, ‘My friend, I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India,’ ” Trump said while speaking in Qatar on Thursday, May 15, per ABC News, appearing to reference Apple’s previous pledge to invest $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.
After Trump warned Apple of an import tax, he also said on Truth Social that he was planning to hit the European Union with “a straight 50% tariff” starting on June 1.
Trump previously announced on April 9 that he was putting a 90-day pause on the tariffs for nearly all nations — excluding China.
The U.S. and China have since “agreed a truce to lower import taxes on goods being traded between the two countries,” the BBC reported. Additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports “will fall from 145% to 30%,” while Chinese tariffs on some U.S. imports “will fall from 125% to 10%,” per the outlet.