Trump threatens tariffs to Apple, says “okay to go to India, but you’re not going to sell in US without tariffs”

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks within the Oval Office on the day he indicators an government order, on the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on May 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has stated, “It is ok for Apple to go to India to build its plants, but then the tech company will not be able to sell its products in America without tariffs”.

Mr. Trump’s remarks got here as he signed a number of government orders within the Oval Office to spice up the united statesnuclear energy.

“…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 into here without tariffs.’ And that’s the way it is,” Mr. Trump stated on Friday (May 23, 2025).

“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,” he stated.

Early on Friday (May 23, 2025), Mr. Trump stated in a social media put up that he expects Apple iPhones that will likely be bought within the US to be manufactured in America and “not India, or anyplace else”, threatening to place a 25% tariff on the tech firm’s merchandise if it doesn’t comply.

“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% must be paid by Apple to the US. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Mr. Trump stated.

Just final week, Mr. Trump had stated in Doha throughout his visit to the Middle East that he had advised the Apple CEO to not construct in India and as an alternative construct its manufacturing capability within the US.

“We have Apple, as you know, that’s coming in, and I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Mr. Trump had stated in Doha in remarks to prime executives.

“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’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India. 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,” he had stated.

Earlier this month, Mr. Cook had stated in a Q2, 2025 Earnings Conference name that the present tariffs that apply to Apple at this time are based mostly on the product’s nation of origin.

“For the June quarter, we do count on the vast majority of iPhones bought within the U.S. may have India as their nation of origin and Vietnam to be the nation of origin for nearly all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods merchandise bought within the U.S,” Mr. Cook had stated.

On Mr. Trump calling for Apple to shift iPhone manufacturing from India to the U.S., analysis agency Counterpoint Research Research Director Tarun Pathak had stated final week that “this is a familiar Trump tactic, He wants to push Apple to localise more and build a supply chain in the U.S, which is not going to happen overnight. Making in the U.S. will also be much more expensive than assembling iPhones in India.”

Counterpoint Research Vice President Neil Shah stated that “Apple has been doing a lot of groundwork in India, which has helped it successfully manage some of the U.S. iPhone demand from its India production facilities”.

“In terms of capacity, India has enough to potentially meet all U.S. iPhone demand in the future, but the ecosystem needs to be ramped up. We will see more efforts towards this as well as products beyond iPhones. We expect made-in-India iPhones to account for 25%-30% of global iPhone shipments in 2025, as compared to 18% in 2024.”