President Donald Trump threatened Apple with a tariff of at least 25%, if it does not build its iPhones in the US, increases the pressure on technical veterans to secure more domestic production.
Trump said in a post on Friday, “I had informed Apple’s Tim Cook long ago that I hope his iPhone would be sold in the United States and built in the United States and built in the United States, not in India, or at any place.” “If this is not the case, then the tariff of at least 25 percent should be paid to the US by Apple”
The US equity futures fell for session climb on Trump’s announcement and their threats to impose 50 percent tariff on goods from the European Union starting on 1 June. Nasdaq 100 contracts led to a decline, while Apple’s shares were down as four percent in pre-market trading.
The President’s demands for the US-based manufacturing are a clear challenge for the company, whose popular phone supply chain has been concentrated in China for years. There is a lack of rich ecosystem of apple suppliers in the US, manufacturing and engineering know that-can be found in Asia-for now.
Apple, which has become a frequent Trump target, did not immediately respond to the President’s request to comment on the threat. Earlier this month, the company warned that it would face $ 900 million (about Rs 7,674 crore) at a high cost from tariffs in the current quarter.
Last week, during his visit to the Middle East, Trump said that he asked Apple’s CEO Tim Cook to stop the construction of plants in India to create equipment for the US, pushing the iPhone manufacturer to add domestic production as it is away from China.
Trump said about his conversation, “I had some problems with Tim Cook yesterday.” “He is building all over India. I don’t want you to build in India.”
Apple said earlier this year that it plans to spend $ 500 billion (about Rs 42,63,505 crore) in the US in the next four years, including a new server manufacturing facility in Houston, a supplier academy in Michigan and additional expenses with their current suppliers in the country.
But this is reduced by the full innings in US-based production envisaged by Trump. Creating your signature iPhone and other devices in the US will be a very large venture for Cupertino, California -based company.
Apple’s biggest FATP features-basic assembly, tests and pack-outs are largely and out of comprehension for many people outside-Asia. They are almost cities with several hundred thousand people, schools, gym, medical facilities and dormitory. A major iPhone factory, a complex in Zhengzhou, even dubbed the iPhone City.
The development of new iPhones and other products still begins in Apple’s laboratories in Silicon Valley. But working with Asia-based component suppliers and other partners begins a product actually before being a hit in the market. Apple Engineer and operating experts spend months or years working closely with the Foxcony Technology Group, Patron Corp and other suppliers to customize the assembly of new equipment.
A popular counterpoint is that Apple should use its cash hoard to buy thousands of acres in the US and create a completely robot and automatic iPhone construction facility. This will remove any human-related challenges from the manufacturing process, but supply chain experts say that often not realistic due to changing demands. In addition, most manufacturing equipment are created in China.
In recent weeks, the pressure on Apple increased from the President’s first term, when Cook took advantage of a personal relationship with Trump to win a tariff carvout for Apple products. For investors on Wall Street, it indicates uncertainty about the impact of Trump’s trade policy on one of the world’s most valuable companies.
Randy Hare, director of Equity Research at Huntington National Bank, said, “This is a red flag for me that Trump continued to sing Apple and seems to have something against him.” “This does not mean that Trump is going to do something else, but you can’t guess what is going to happen, and it alerts me.”
Cook was one of many big technical officers and billionaires who tried to court after Trump’s election victory in November.
Apple’s CEO traveled to Trump’s Mar-e-Lago Estate in Florida for a series of private meetings and dinner. He sat behind the President in January along with Elon Musk, Google’s beautiful Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta platforms and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
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