Win McNamee/Getty Images
Donald Trump has a “little problem with Tim Cook.”
Speaking in Qatar, the president said he recently told the Apple CEO that he doesn’t want the iPhone maker to shift its manufacturing production to India.
Apple, the world’s most valuable company, has long depended on a vast supply chain empire in China to manufacture, assemble, and ship iPhones and other goods to the US.
But as Trump’s administration has ramped up a trade war with its biggest international rival, Apple has been forced to take measures to diversify operations away from China. The company also committed to investing $500 billion in the US over the next four years in February.
“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said Thursday. “I said to him, Tim, you’re my friend, I’ve treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.”
The comments will come as a challenge to Apple and its investors. The company has spent recent years deepening its ties to India, where it has ramped up iPhone production.
Apple largely works with Taiwanese firm Foxconn to assemble its iPhones in India, and has partnerships with local firm Tata, too.
But in his comments, Trump made clear he didn’t want Cook to put more operations in India after “we’ve put up with all the plants that you built in China for years.”
“You can build in India if you want to take care of India,” Trump added.
Trump said that Apple would be “upping their production in the United States.” Analysts have previously warned that shifts away from China could trigger a huge price increase in the iPhone for consumers.
Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
The post Trump says he had a ‘little problem with Tim Cook’ over Apple’s India expansion appeared first on Business Insider.
