Trump Urges Apple to Move Production to US to Avoid Tariffs

• Trump warns tariffs on Apple for making iPhones in India.
• Urges U.S. production over overseas expansion plans.
• Experts say costs could spike if iPhones are made in the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that Apple products produced in India could be subject to tariffs when they are sold in the U.S. Trump made the comments following the signing of an executive order at the White House by soliciting the audience with a story about a conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying he had expected Apple to keep production within the U.S.

Trump noted that despite seemingly doing the right thing by investing in U.S. jobs, he believed iPhones sold in the U.S. should be made in the U.S.  He suggested that a tariff would be implemented if Apple, as well as the multitude of other smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung, produced out of the U.S. He indicated the tariff could potentially run as high as 25%.

He stated, "I had an understanding with Tim (Cook) that he wouldn't be doing this. He said he's going to India to build plants. I said, 'That's okay to go to India, but you're not going to sell into here without tariffs.' And that's the way it is."

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Trump reiterated his position in social media and in a business meeting while in Doha, further explaining his disagreement with Cook concerning Apple's plans to invest in India, which often leads to a misunderstanding in discussions about trade.

Advertised plans to export U.S. manufacturing jobs to job overseas don't help ties across industries, and the discussion has opened an tap of considerations related to tariffs always drive back to flexibilities in workforce strength, but there continues to be a focus on getting production expressly out of developing to export in overdeveloped areas.

Experts have suggested that manufacturing iPhones Inside the U.S. would ultimately bump the price to about $3,000; for comparison. At a recent Apple's Q2 2025 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated that tariffs come in when an item is produced, further complicating the conversation webs when dealing gulf industries benefit by where production occurs in where they are also irreplaceably built in today's and future global production environments.

This development further illustrates the higher level of problem related to multinational tech companies managing manoeuvring through changes in trade policy and the demands for domestic manufacturing. The situation is unsettled, and it remains to be seen how Apple will respond globally and in terms of pricing.