Earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company would start importing iPhones manufactured in India to meet the majority of demand stateside. It seems U.S. president Donald Trump is not happy with that.
Speaking at a business summit in Doha, Trump said he met with Cook and asked him to stop building in India and instead increase production in the United States.
“I said to him, ‘Tim, you’re my friend, I’ve treated you very good. You’re coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are 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 one of the highest tariff nations in the world,’” Trump said.
Trump, who has been on a tariff offensive against most of the world, said Apple would now be “upping” production in the U.S., though he didn’t give a timeline or any specifics.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, Apple said that it would spend $500 billion over the next four years to expand manufacturing in the U.S. by setting up facilities in various locations, opening new units, hiring over 20,000 people, and opening a manufacturing academy.
Trump’s comments come a day after India approved a $435 million Foxconn project to manufacture Apple chips in the country. The company has had ambitious plans to ramp up production in India and create alternative manufacturing units that reduce its reliance on China.
A Bloomberg report in April suggested Apple already produces 20% of its iPhones in India. At the time, the Financial Times also reported that Apple planned to import all iPhones sold in the U.S. from India by 2026.
