Donald Trump lashes out at Tim Cook with brutal three-word threat to Apple
U.S. President
Donald Trump
lashed out at
Apple
CEO Tim Cook early Friday morning, telling the tech giant that 25% "must be paid" on their goods if they do not make their products
within the U.S. borders
. Trump made the threat on his Truth Social media platform.
"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,"
Trump wrote
in the short message. "If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Trump's threat came
after he asked Cook to stop making the popular phones in India and pivot to U.S. production instead. It was reported last week, while the president was in Qatar, that Trump "had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday."
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Trump threatened the tech giant's head that 25% "must be paid" on their goods if they do not make their products within the U.S. borders.
(Image: Getty Images)
"I said to him, '
You're my friend, I've treated you very good .
.. but now I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India,'" Trump told the gaggle of reporters. It was revealed that prior to Trump's sweeping tariffs, Apple had allegedly invested $500 billion in the United States in February.
It was also reported that, in order to counter its reliance on Chinese production, Apple had accelerated the production of iPhones in India to make 25% of its global production in the country over the next few years. Currently, 90% of the iPhones are assembled in China.
Apple had previously invested $500 million in the U.S. economy in February
(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
However, Trump seemed to be enraged with the report. "I said to Tim, I said, 'Tim look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you build in China for years, now you got build us," the president said.
"We're not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves ... we want you to build here," he said. In a cryptic statement, Trump said that Apple would be "upping" production in the US.
Apple had accelerated the production of iPhones in India to make 25% of its global production in the country over the next few years
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
According to experts, moving iPhone production to the U.S. will invariably increase final prices to nearly $1,500 to $3,000. Apple produces very few products in the U.S., namely the Mac Pro.
It was reported in February that it would launch a manufacturing facility in
Texas
to produce servers for its AI system, Apple Intelligence.
According to experts, moving iPhone production to the U.S. will invariably increase final prices to nearly $1,500 to $3,000.
(Image: Getty Images)
In April, while imposing tariffs on American trading partners, Trump imposed a 26% tariff on Indian goods, which was lowered temporarily until July as part of his 90-day tariff pause.
The U.S. has claimed that India is "one of the highest tariff nations in the world." Trump claimed that New Delhi reached out to Washington to strike a new trade deal where "they are willing to literally charge us no tariff."
The Indian government approved Apple's main assembly partner in India, Foxconn, to build a semiconductor plant in the country with HCL Group.
Reports indicate that the Indian government approved Apple's main assembly partner in India, Foxconn, to build a semiconductor plant in the country with HCL Group. This is part of Apple's push to diversify its production and expand beyond China to nations like Vietnam and India.
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Irish Times
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