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Donald Trump has threatened Apple with a 25 per cent tariff on iPhones unless the company shifts production of its best-selling product to the US, escalating a stand-off with chief executive Tim Cook.
Cook said this month that Indian factories would supply the “majority” of iPhones sold in the US in the coming months, as Apple tries to avoid the tariffs on Chinese-made goods imposed by Trump as part of his trade war.
“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” the US president wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday.
“If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”
The Financial Times has previously reported that Apple planned to source from India all of the more than 60mn iPhones sold annually in the US by the end of next year. Foxconn, a key Apple supplier, is investing $1.5bn to expand iPhone production in India with a display module facility near Chennai, the FT reported earlier on Friday.
Apple shares fell 3 per cent in pre-market trading.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story
