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Tim Cook gifts Trump gold-based glass plaque as Apple ups US bet
The plaque, engraved with Trump's name and the Apple logo, was made from glass produced in Kentucky and set in a 24-karat gold base from Utah. The design was created by a former US Marine Corps corporal now working at Apple.
"This glass comes off the Corning line. It's engraved for President Trump. It's a unique unit of one... and the base comes from Utah and is 24-karat gold," Cook said while presenting the plaque at the Oval Office.
A video of the event shared on X shows Cook placing the disc-shaped plaque on the Resolute Desk in the White House.
Apple pledges $100 bn more investment in US
During the meeting, Trump revealed that Apple would invest an additional $100 billion in US domestic manufacturing over the next four years.
As part of this initiative, Apple plans to invest $2.5 billion in Corning Inc., marking the first time that all cover glass for iPhones and Apple Watches will be made domestically at Corning's Kentucky plant.
The investment is seen as Apple's effort to align with the 'Made in US' push amid ongoing tariff pressures.
India-US tensions shadow Apple's export gains
The announcement also comes against the backdrop of rising trade tensions between Washington and New Delhi. On August 1, Trump increased tariffs on Indian goods by an additional 25 per cent, taking the total to 50 per cent. He also warned of penalties for India's continued oil trade with Russia.
Business Standard previously reported that Apple exported iPhones worth $6 billion from India in April–June 2025, an 82 per cent year-on-year increase. India also recorded its highest-ever smartphone exports in the first quarter of FY26, with Apple accounting for 78 per cent of the total.
Despite these gains, Apple may face headwinds. During its recent earnings call, Cook warned that the company could take a $1.1 billion hit in the fourth quarter due to the new US tariffs.
Fiscal impact and strategic alignment
Apple follows an October-to-September fiscal year. Its third-quarter results showed strong growth from India and other regions. However, in light of the new tariff regime, the company's decision to deepen US investments appears aimed at balancing operational risks with political realities.
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Time of India
24 minutes ago
- Time of India
Indian refiners can do without Russian oil, but with trade-offs
Indian refiners, the world's biggest user of Russian oil, can operate without supplies from Moscow from a technical standpoint, but the shift would involve major economic and strategic trade-offs, analysts said. Russian crude supports high distillate yields - the share of crude converted into fuels like petrol, diesel, and jet fuel through distillation. Replacing Russian crude, which accounts for up to 38 per cent of India's refinery intake, with alternatives will shift yields, resulting in lower middle distillates (diesel and jet fuel) and higher residue outputs, according to global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler. US President Donald Trump last week announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on US imports from India -- raising the overall duty to 50 per cent -- as a penalty for the country's continued imports of Russian oil. Since the steep tariffs are likely to hit the USD 27 billion of non-exempt exports that India does to the US, there has been chatter around stopping or curtailing oil imports from Russia. "Indian refiners can operate without Russian crude from a technical standpoint, but the shift would involve major economic and strategic trade-offs," Kpler said in a report, 'US Tariffs on Indian Imports: Implications for Energy Markets & Trade Flows'. India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Consequently, from a mere 1.7 per cent share in total oil imports in 2019-20 (FY20), Russia's share increased to 35.1 per cent in FY25, and it is now the biggest oil supplier to India. In terms of volume, India imported 88 million tonnes from Russia in FY25, out of the total shipment of 245 million tonnes. In July, India received 1.6 million barrels per day of crude from Russia, ahead of China's nearly 1 million bpd and Turkey's around 5,00,000 bpd. Kpler said deep discounts and strong compatibility with India's refining systems led to a surge in imports of Russian Ural crude oil. "Russian crude supports high distillate yields (diesel and jet fuel) and is ideally suited to India's advanced refining infrastructure. It has enabled both state-owned and private refiners to operate above nameplate capacity while maintaining strong margins. "A reversal of this will result in a mild yield shift (lower middle distillate yields, higher residue yields) and probably a small reduction in primary throughput rates, as margins will no longer command a sizeable premium against regional benchmarks, considering existing discounts on Russian oil," Kpler said. The Indian government has issued diplomatic but firm responses to the US tariffs, emphasising the importance of maintaining energy security. "Should Russian oil become inaccessible, India could face an additional USD 3-5 billion in annual import costs (based on a USD 5 per barrel premium on 1.8 million bpd). If global prices rise further (a scenario in which Russian crude exports are being curtailed, in the absence of sufficient buying interest from India), the financial burden could increase significantly," the report said. This may prompt the government to cap retail fuel prices, which could strain fiscal balances. A spike in the import bill could even lead to a reduction in overall crude purchases. India's limited storage capacity further constrains its ability to manage such disruptions. While Russian flows to India continue under a 'business-as-usual' stance, the escalating US rhetoric has reopened conversations about supply diversification, with some Indian refiners reportedly booking increased volumes of Middle Eastern crude. According to Kpler, replacing 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude would require a multi-regional approach. The Middle East remains the most viable option operationally, grades such as WTI Midland from the US could contribute 2,00,000-4,00,000 bpd. These (US crude) are lighter and yield less diesel, a disadvantage for India's distillate-heavy demand. Long-haul freight and cost considerations will also restrict scalability, it said. West Africa and Latin America (LatAm) crudes offer moderate potential. "A balanced replacement strategy may involve 60-70 per cent of substitute volumes from the Middle East, with US and African/LatAm crudes serving as tactical fillers. Nevertheless, none match Russian barrels in cost, quality, or reliability (some of the Russia-to-India barrels have already been contracted under term agreements)," it noted. According to Kpler, Indian refiners can technically adapt to the loss of Russian barrels, but with significant economic consequences. "Replacing 1.7-2.0 million bpd of discounted, medium-sour crude would erode refining margins and misalign product yields. Lighter substitutes like WTI or West African grades produce more gasoline and naphtha, reducing diesel output and hurting both domestic and export economics." Even Middle Eastern grades, while closer in quality, are priced tightly to official selling prices (OSP), leaving limited arbitrage opportunities. "In addition to higher feedstock costs, Indian refiners would face elevated freight and credit charges," it said. "The transition is commercially painful, even if technically feasible."
Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
The ‘Turnberry system' – what the US' new global economic order looks like
Last week, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra touted India's 'bright prospects in the changing world order' in the medium term, adding that 'opportunities are there for the taking'. But will India be able to get its hands on any of these opportunities? Turnberry, of course, is a Trump-owned hotel and resort on the western coast of Scotland where in late July the US President and his European Commission counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen, announced their bilateral trade agreement. As part of the deal, goods from the European Union (EU) will face a tariff of 15 per cent when entering the US. However, it did not end there: by 2028, the EU will buy $750 billion of American energy products and invest $600 billion in the US. The deal has been called a 'capitulation' and humiliating for the EU. According to Julian Hinz, head of Research Center Trade Policy at Berlin-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy, it was an 'appeasement' and abandoned the World Trade Organization's (WTO) principles. 'Under WTO rules, member countries must apply the same tariffs to all other members. Deviations are only permitted under free trade agreements in which both sides reduce their tariffs to zero. The current deal clearly violates these principles and sets a dangerous precedent,' Hinz warned on July 28, adding that Trump's strategy of 'pitting other economies against each other' had only been strengthened. Greer's New York Times column, however, made no bones about abandoning the WTO and its doctrines. According to Greer, the legacy of the Bretton Woods system lived on in the form of an arrangement dominated by the WTO he said was 'untenable and unsustainable' – while the US lost industrial jobs and economic security, others did not undertake key reforms. China, meanwhile, was the winner. But now, 'reform is at hand', with the US-EU deal 'oriented toward serving concrete national interests rather than vague aspirations of multilateral institutions'. Multilateral institutions such as the WTO, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund have been criticised for decades for their policy suggestions, especially when it comes to debt-laden developing nations, as shown by the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the European debt crisis. Momentum to meaningfully reform them has gathered pace in recent years. Greer, however, has a more US-centric world order in mind. 'It took over 50 years from that first meeting at Bretton Woods until the creation of the WTO. It has been 30 years since. Fewer than 130 days from the beginning of the Trump Round, the Turnberry system is by no means complete, but its construction is well underway,' Greer concluded, calling the current round of global trade negotiations as the 'Trump Round' of discussions – a reference to the several rounds of talks held between countries that led to the formation of the WTO at the Uruguay Round in 1994. But what exactly is the Turnberry system? Going by Greer's column, the Turnberry system involves nations aligning on economic and national security interests and rebalancing trade in a 'more sustainable direction' such that the US' manufacturing sector is back on its feet. This, he said, warrants a 'generational project to re-industrialize America'. The era of the US getting other countries to lower their trade barriers by removing the tariffs that defended its own manufacturing sector is over; in its place, the removal of foreign trade barriers is being done 'while ensuring sufficient tariff protection at home'. This system also intends to enforce these new priorities in a far more telling manner than 'drawn-out dispute settlement process'. Should the US detect non-compliance, there will be swift retribution in the form of higher tariffs – the 'formidable stick' to the 'mighty carrot' that is the opportunity to sell your goods in the 'world's most lucrative consumer market', Greer said. Clearly, the Turnberry system is one which serves only one country. The US gets its pound of flesh in the form of re-industrialisation, while foreign companies get the opportunity to have access to the world's richest consumers. Or at least that's what the US government thinks. Leading academics have repeatedly warned that Trump's tariff war will not solve the country's problems. For instance, Robert Z Lawrence of the Peterson Institute of International Economics and a professor of trade and investment at Harvard University has said it is a 'fool's errand' to make the US economy go through a massive disruption just to create a relatively small number of manufacturing jobs. Moreover, dealing with bilateral deficits individually does not balance overall trade and without policies that cut American expenditure relative to its output, Trump's tariffs will only result in the shifting of its trade deficit from targeted countries to non-targeted ones, Lawrence has argued.
Hans India
24 minutes ago
- Hans India
Rs 2,250-cr export promotion mission from Centre soon
The central government is expected to soon announce support measures under the proposed Rs 2,250 crore export promotion mission to help insulate industry from global trade uncertainties arising from Trump tariffs, an official said. 'We are in dialogue with exporters to see how we can support them best in different ways, like ease of doing business. We are looking at how to give a boost to domestic consumption. We are looking at new supply chains, which we can capture, new markets, and new products,' the official said. The mission may include components, such as easy credit schemes for MSME and e-commerce exporters, facilitation of overseas warehousing, and global branding initiatives to tap emerging export opportunities. The government on February 1 announced the setting up of the mission with an outlay of Rs 2,250 crore. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has already made a presentation on the mission to the representatives of export promotion councils and other key stakeholders on April 30.
