Apple Production Shift to India Won’t Address the Problem, Trump Warns, as iPhone Should Be Made in USA

President Donald Trump has sharply criticized Apple’s efforts to shift more iPhone production to India, warning that such moves fail to address the core issue of U.S. manufacturing and urging the tech giant to build its flagship products domestically instead.

Speaking during a visit to Qatar as part of his Middle East tour, Trump revealed a tense exchange with Apple CEO Tim Cook following Cook’s confirmation that Indian factories will soon supply the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said. “I treated you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years, and now I hear you’re building all over India. We’re not interested in that—we want you to build here.”

Apple has been aggressively diversifying its supply chain away from China, aiming to manufacture roughly 25% of global iPhones in India within the next few years, as Trump’s 20% tariff on China-made products has already kicked in. Apple plans to source all 60 million iPhones sold annually in the U.S. from Indian facilities by the end of next year. The company’s suppliers—Foxconn and Tata Electronics—are already producing iPhones at plants in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

But Trump remains unconvinced. “India can take care of themselves,” he said bluntly. “We want you to build here.” He added that Apple will be “upping” its production in the U.S., although he did not provide details.

Apple had previously pledged to invest $500 billion in the U.S. over Trump’s four-year term, including producing chips and servers for artificial intelligence at facilities such as its new Texas plant. Still, replicating Apple’s complex Chinese supply chain in America presents major logistical and economic challenges. Experts estimate it would take years and tens of billions of dollars to shift iPhone assembly to the U.S., where labor costs are higher and the specialized manufacturing workforce is less concentrated.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that Apple’s production scale would require advanced automation and robotics. “He’s going to build it here,” Lutnick said of Cook. “And Americans are going to be the technicians who drive those factories. They’re not going to be the ones screwing it in.” However, many suggest that idea is unrealistic.

The Trump administration has also pointed to trade imbalances with India. “India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world,” Trump said, noting that negotiations are underway on a new bilateral trade agreement. Under his trade protectionist policy revealed in April, the U.S. imposed a 26% “reciprocal tariff” on Indian goods—though it has been temporarily reduced until July as talks continue.