US President Donald Trump has urged Apple CEO Tim Cook to reconsider the tech giant’s ongoing expansion in India, expressing concerns over high tariffs and a preference for domestic manufacturing. Speaking at a business event in Doha, Trump revealed that he had a “little problem” with Cook, stating, “I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.”
Trump emphasized that Apple could choose to build in India only if it was committed to supporting the country independently. “India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India. India can take care of themselves,” he asserted. The US President claimed New Delhi had offered Washington a deal involving minimal tariffs on US goods, though no such agreement has been confirmed by the Indian government.
The remarks come at a time when Apple is actively shifting parts of its manufacturing base from China to India in response to tariff-related pressures from the US government. Apple CEO Tim Cook had recently indicated that the majority of iPhones sold in the US could soon be manufactured in India.
Currently, Apple operates three production facilities in India—two in Tamil Nadu and one in Karnataka—run by Foxconn and Tata Group. Two additional plants are also in development. In the fiscal year ending March, Apple assembled iPhones worth $22 billion in India, marking a 60 percent increase from the previous year.
Despite Trump’s push for domestic manufacturing, Apple continues to see India as a strategic hub for its global production needs.
