U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday (May, 23) warned Apple that it could face a 25% tariff on iPhones unless the company shifts part of its production to the United States.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had told Apple CEO Tim Cook that iPhones sold in the U.S. should be manufactured domestically rather than in India or other countries.
Trump’s comments follow his criticism last week, during a Middle East trip, of Apple’s decision to expand iPhone manufacturing in India. Apple has been diversifying its supply chain in recent years, moving some production away from China, which still accounts for about 90% of iPhone assembly, according to Wedbush Securities estimates.
Cook has previously said Apple expects most iPhones destined for the U.S. market to be produced in India in coming years. Apple, the world’s most valuable public company, has argued that producing iPhones in the U.S. is not feasible due to the lack of skilled engineers and higher labor costs.
CNN reported that Cook met Trump at the White House on Tuesday, though details of the meeting were not disclosed.
Apple has invested billions of dollars to train engineers abroad, with China and India offering vast pools of skilled labor at lower costs compared to the U.S. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs once told then-President Barack Obama that the U.S. education system limited Apple’s ability to find the 30,000 industrial engineers needed to oversee factory workers domestically.
