Donald Trump threatens Apple with 25% tariff if iPhones sold in the USA are made in India, after Foxconn announced $1.5 billion plant in India for iPhone components
Continuing his tariff war against supplier countries, US president Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariff on iPhones imported from India to the USA. His comments come a week after saying that he told Apple CEO Tim Cook not to make iPhones in India.
In a post on his Truth Social, Trump said, “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”
The US president added, “Thank your for your attention to this matter!”
Donald Trump’s comments came after Apple’s top supplier Foxconn announced that it is moving forward with a $1.5 billion investment in a new component factory near Chennai. . In an exchange filing at the London Stock Exchange earlier this week, Foxconn said it was investing $1.49 billion in one of its India units, Yuzhan Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd.
As per reports, the Taiwanese electronics giant is setting up the new plant in Tamil Nadu’s Oragadam industrial hub, next to its existing iPhone assembly unit. The new plant will assemble the display module for iPhones.
Earlier on 15th May, Trump had said that he does not support Apple investing in manufacturing plants in India. In a media interaction during his Doha visit, Trump said, “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion but now I hear you are building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.”
He had added, “You(Apple) want to build in India, if you want to take care of India. India is one of the highest-tariff nations, it is very hard to sell in India. And they have offered us a deal where there is literally no tariff. So from the highest tariff, we are going to almost no tariff. So I said to Tim, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years, but we are not interested in you building in India can take care of themselves very well.”
However, both the Indian government and Apple have said that the company’s investment plans in India will go ahead as announced. The Indian government downplayed Trump’s Doha remarks, saying that Apple has assured that is will make India a major manufacturing base for its products.
Sources in Apple also indicated that the company has no plan to change its plans for investments in India based on Trump’s comments. Company executives told news agency PTI that the proposal to set up a major manufacturing facility in the country will go ahead as scheduled.
As Apple has decided to reduce its reliance on manufacturing in China, the company has decided to shift its suppliers away from China to other countries like India and Vietnam. The company currently produces nearly 15% of all iPhones in India, and plans to increase that share to 25% in the near future.
Apart from Foxconn, Tata Electronics is making iPhones in India.
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