While Apple has begun moving away iPhone production from China and focusing on India instead to evade paying tariffs, US President Donald Trump says he's "a little" unhappy about Apple's decision. Trump apparently expected Apple to begin producing iPhones in the US instead of India or Brazil.
As reported by CNBC, Trump said on Thursday that he told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he doesn't want to see iPhones being produced in India. Trump referred to India as "one of the highest tariff nations in the world" while adding that "they are willing to literally charge us no tariff."
"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said. "I said to him, 'my friend, I treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India.' I don't want you building in India."
Traditionally, China has been the main Apple hub for iPhone production, and over 90 percent of Apple's high-end devices are produced by Chinese manufacturers. However, after Trump ignited a tariff war with China, Apple and other tech giants began moving production facilities to countries hit with the lowest tariff rates, including India, Brazil, and Vietnam.
"I said to Tim, I said, 'Tim look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you build in China for years, now you got build us. We're not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves ... we want you to build here'," Trump added.
Without disclosing further details, Trump said Apple is going to be "upping" its production in the United States. Apple is currently producing some of its chips in the US through a partnership with TSMC, but no iPhone is assembled in the US.
In February, Apple pledged to invest $500 billion in the United States over the next four years. The investment will mainly support R&D efforts, chip production, and expanding AI data centers. Apple hasn't yet revealed any plan to bring iPhone production to the US.
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