Apple, the tech giant behind the iPhone and iPad, is currently manufacturing some of its products in India and is planning to expand its operations in the country. However, U.S. President Donald Trump has made a strong statement advising Apple against this move. In a recent conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Trump expressed his concerns about Apple increasing production in India. He emphasized that the United States has supported Apple’s global growth and now expects the company to invest more in American manufacturing.
“I spoke to Tim Cook yesterday. We're taking good care of you. You're building a $500 billion company. But I’ve heard you're setting up production facilities in India. I don’t think you should do that,” Trump said. “If you want to help India, that’s your choice. But India imposes some of the highest tariffs in the world. It’s a tough market to sell in. India has offered zero duties on some of our goods, but that’s not enough,” he added. Trump made these remarks during a business meeting in Doha, where he interacted with several industry leaders.
“We tolerated your manufacturing in China for years. But now, we think you shouldn’t move those operations to India either. India can take care of itself — they’re doing fine. You should build your production plants in the U.S.,” Trump said. Trump also claimed that New Delhi has offered a deal to Washington, DC and said it would charge no tariffs on US goods. India has not made any such announcement yet. "They (India) offered us a deal where basically they have agreed to charge us literally no tariffs. I said Tim, we are treating you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years. We are not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves," Trump said.
Apple currently has three plants in India, two in Tamil Nadu and one in Karnataka. One of these is operated by Foxconn, and the other two by the Tata Group. Two more Apple plants are in the pipeline. Trump’s comments reflect his continued push for the ‘America First’ policy. He wants major U.S.-based companies like Apple to expand their manufacturing within the United States to boost domestic job creation and economic growth. Trump’s remarks could be seen as a potential challenge to India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, which aims to attract global manufacturers and strengthen the country’s position as a major production hub.