Former President Donald Trump has voiced strong disapproval over Apple’s reported decision to increase iPhone production in India for the U.S. market, calling out CEO Tim Cook during a speech in Qatar.
“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said, referencing Apple’s significant investment pledge of $500 billion in the U.S. “You’re building all over India now. I don’t want you building in India—I want you building here.”
Apple, which sources over 1,000 components globally for its iPhones, currently assembles around 90% of the devices in China. Amid ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions, the company has steadily expanded production in India through partners like Foxconn and Tata, which reportedly shipped nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones to the U.S. in March alone—a record high.
Trump criticized this pivot, urging Apple to prioritize domestic manufacturing. “We’ve supported Apple through years of Chinese production. Now it’s time they build for Americans—right here in America,” he asserted.
While he claimed Apple would increase U.S. production, no specifics were provided. Experts caution that shifting iPhone assembly to the U.S. could triple production costs, making it a highly impractical move.
In parallel, Trump noted that India is offering the U.S. a potential trade deal with zero tariffs on American goods. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has actively promoted India as a global tech manufacturing hub, which is accelerating interest from firms like Apple.
This clash between economic nationalism and global supply chains highlights the complex future of tech production in a shifting geopolitical landscape.