Donald Trump continues to pressure big business to move production lines from other countries to the United States.
In another post on his own social network Truth Social, Trump began openly threatening Apple CEO Tim Cook.
What is known
Trump wrote that he has repeatedly asked Cook to move iPhone production to the US (as if it’s that easy!). The president said that if this request is not met, Apple will pay a duty of 25% for every iPhone manufactured outside of America and imported into the country.
Tim Cook tried to explain that full localization of production not only doesn’t make sense or make economic sense, but is actually impossible due to the lack of sufficient skilled personnel and production space. Analysts and economists argue that in the case of full re-localization of production in the United States, products will rise significantly in price and a new iPhone could cost up to $3500 or more, but apparently this is not an argument for Trump.
Trump said that Apple will have to pay 25% duties if phones sold in the country are not manufactured within its borders.
Apple shares fell 2.5% in pre-market trading after Trump’s warning, pulling down U.S. stock index futures, the publication noted.
“I have long told Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones to be sold in the United States of America to be manufactured and assembled in the United States, not in India or anywhere else,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“If this is not the case, Apple should pay the United States a duty of at least 25%”, he said. It is unclear whether Trump can impose the duty on an individual company, Reuters noted.
Apple is positioning India as an alternative manufacturing base amid Trump’s tariffs on China, which have raised supply chain concerns and fears of higher iPhone prices, Reuters reported last month.
The iPhone maker said most of its smartphones sold in the United States in the June quarter would originate in India.
Earlier, it was reported that US President Donald Trump said he urged Apple CEO Tim Cook not to expand iPhone production in India despite the company’s plans.
These statements came amid news that Apple wants to significantly expand production in India to supply smartphones to the US. The company sees this decision as a replacement for Chinese production due to tensions between the US and China and new trade restrictions.
Earlier it was reported that Apple plans to move the assembly of all iPhones sold in the US to India from next year.
The reason for this move was President Donald Trump’s trade war, which is forcing the tech giant to move away from China. This move continues Apple’s strategy to diversify its supply chain, but is happening faster and on a larger scale than investors expect.
It was also reported that Trump has made it clear that he is not afraid to punish Mattel, Hot Wheels, Uno, American Girl and others for refusing to move their production to the US.
Trump threatened Mattel with a 100% duty on its goods. After all, the company, known for the Barbie brand, does not want to move its toy production from China to the US, although it is going to relocate to other countries. This year, the company is shifting the production of 500 of its toys from China to India and other countries.
Even with duties, it’s still too expensive to produce affordable toys in the U.S. even for the American consumer, said Inon Kreutz, Mattel’s chairman and CEO.
