Trump: Apple should halt iPhone expansion in India

But any shift away from India or China would pose enormous logistical and financial hurdles, experts say

US president Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has personally asked Apple CEO Tim Cook to stop expanding iPhone production in India, urging the company to shift more manufacturing back to the United States.

The comments came during Trump's state visit to Qatar, where he revealed details of a recent conversation with Cook.

"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said during a press conference in Doha. "He is building all over India.

"I said 'Tim, we are treating you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years. We are not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves'."

Trump added that, as a result of their discussion, Apple has agreed to "up their production in the United States."

Trump's remarks come at a delicate time for Apple, which has been aggressively scaling up operations in India to reduce reliance on China.

The Cupertino-based tech giant currently produces more than 40 million iPhones annually in India, around 20% of its global output, and plans to import the majority of iPhones sold in the US from India by the end of 2026.

That transition is part of a broader pivot away from Chinese manufacturing due to trade tensions and previous disruptions such as pandemic-related lockdowns.

While Apple has pledged to invest $500 billion in the US over the next four years, the company does not currently manufacture any iPhones domestically.

The complexity of the iPhone's supply chain, built over decades in China, combined with the lack of a suitable skilled labour force and higher costs of production in the US, makes such a move extremely challenging.

India remains a vital part of Apple's future. The country not only offers a fast-growing consumer base with an appetite for Apple's premium products, but also provides subsidies and incentives to expand high-tech manufacturing.

Apple, through partners like Foxconn and Tata Group, has significantly increased output in India, assembling an estimated $22 billion worth of iPhones in the 12 months through March 2025, a 60% year-over-year jump, according to Bloomberg.

Trump appeared to acknowledge this growth while clarifying that his objection was focused on exports to the US, not production for India's domestic market.

"You can build in India if you want, to take care of India," he said.

The president also revealed that trade talks with India are underway, saying New Delhi has offered to lower its steep import tariffs on US goods.

Apple's Indian manufacturing operations are currently centred around facilities owned by Foxconn in the state of Tamil Nadu, as well as plants run by Tata Electronics, which recently acquired Wistron's local operations and manages Pegatron's production lines in the region.

Both companies are building new factories and expanding capacity as Apple deepens its commitment to India.

Despite Trump's calls for domestic production, experts say that any rapid shift away from India or China would pose enormous logistical and financial hurdles.

"Apple has one of the most sophisticated supply chains built out over years," said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint, a global technology market research firm.

"To disrupt that or to completely move out of India or China will be extremely difficult."