US President Donald Trump has once again urged Apple to manufacture its iPhones in the US instead of India, threatening to impose a tariff of at least 25% if the company fails to comply.
In a post on the Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones 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 US.”
The statement wiped approximately $70 billion (£52 billion) off Apple’s market value, as shares fell 2.6%, pushing the company’s valuation just below $3 trillion.
This is not the first time Trump has expressed concerns about Apple’s expanding manufacturing footprint outside the US. Earlier this month, he made it clear he did not want iPhones to be produced in India.
“I said to Tim … ‘we’ve treated you really well, we’ve put up with all the plants that you’ve built in China for years, now you’ve got to build for us. We’re not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves … we want you to build here,” Trump said, arguing that Apple owes its investment to the United States.
Read more: Trump pushes Apple to shift production from India to US
Economic experts see Trump’s growing distrust of India as a reflection of concerns over the Modi government’s policies. They say New Delhi’s failed economic reforms have made the country unreliable for American industry.
Analysts add that Trump’s repeated calls for US companies to leave India and return to the US indicate a broader US skepticism toward India as a manufacturing hub.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook recently stated that most iPhones sold in the US during the June quarter would “have India as their country of origin.” However, shifting production of US-bound iPhones to America would be costly.
Analysts warn that the lack of facilities and flexible workforce available in China makes US manufacturing prohibitively expensive. Wedbush Securities estimated last month that an iPhone made in the US could cost more than three times as much—around $3,500.
Read more: Apple to shift all US iPhone production from China to India by 2026
Many analysts believe Apple would find it more economical to absorb the higher tariff costs than to overhaul its well-established supply chains, which have taken years to develop.
Concentrated in China, these supply chains are crucial to Apple’s operations, and relocating production to the US could reduce the company’s gross margin by 3 to 3.5 percentage points in fiscal 2026.
The US remains Apple’s largest iPhone market, selling more than 60 million handsets annually, making manufacturing location decisions critically important for the company’s future.
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