Donald Trump says he asked Apple CEO to limit expansion in India

DOHA: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he had spoken with the Apple CEO Tim Cook and asked him to limit Apple’s expansion in India.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. 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. 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, so it is very hard to sell in India,” President Trump said while addressing a news conference in Doha, Qatar.

Trump to Tim Cook: We treated you well, but now I hear you’re building in India. India’s tariffs are among the highest, but they’re offering zero tariffs now.

Still, we want you to build here in the U.S., not India.@realDonaldTrump @Apple pic.twitter.com/rIvazx5neX

— Lumida Wealth Management (@LumidaWealth) May 15, 2025

Recently, Apple took some steps to expand its iPhone production in India, setting up assembly plants operating in the country. Two of these plants are located in Tamil Nadu, and one is in Karnataka. For these plants Apple has signed contract with manufacturers, such as Foxconn and Tata Group to set up production units.

In the last fiscal year, Apple produced $22 billion worth of iPhones in India in the 12 months through March 2025, which is a huge 60 per cent jump from the prior year. Apple manufactured approximately 40-45 million iPhones in India in 2024, accounting for 18-20 per cent of its global output. Of this, about 15 million were exported to the US, 13 million to other international markets, and about 12 million were sold in the Indian market.

In January 2025, Apple achieved an 11th consecutive quarterly revenue record in India, with iPhone sales estimated at $10 billion in 2024. India stands as the Apple’s fourth-largest market globally in 2024, after the US, China, and Japan.

As reported last month, driven by the escalating trade tensions and high reciprocal tariffs announced by both China and US against each other, in a strategic move Apple decided to transition all production of iPhones destined for the US market to India from China.

Since then, the US and China have arrived at an agreement that they will withdraw their previously announced reciprocal tariffs and counter tariffs for an initial period of 90 days. The tariffs for 90 days are reduced by 115 per cent, by both US and China against each other. China will impose 10 per cent tariffs on US goods, and the US will tax Chinese goods at about 30 per cent. (ANI)