 "Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs US President Donald Trump as they give joint statements in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, US, on June 26, 2017. The two leaders share a good rapport and PM is visiting Washington for his first bilateral with Trump, weeks into his second term. File photo/Reuters")
US President Donald Trump has expressed his frustration over Apple’s plans to build manufacturing plants in India.
While speaking in Qatar on Thursday, Trump recalled his conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday and said, “He is building all over India. I don’t want you building in India. India can take care of itself.”
Trump also referred to a previous conversation with Tim Cook after the US-China tariff discussions in Geneva, where he praised Apple’s choice to increase manufacturing in the United States.
“I spoke to Tim Cook this morning, and he’s going to even up his numbers… $500 billion. He’s building a lot of plants in the United States,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
However, Trump’s stance might hinder India’s goals of becoming a global tech manufacturing hub, even though Apple is increasing iPhone assembly and expanding its supply chain in the country.
Apple production in India
Most Apple iPhones are assembled at Foxconn Technology Group’s factory in southern India. Additionally, the Tata Group is also involved in setting up iPhone assembly plants in India. According to 2023 media reports, Tata’s factory in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, was expected to have around 20 assembly lines and generate employment opportunities for approximately 50,000 people within the first two years of operation.
Apple assembled $22 billion worth of iPhones in India in the 12 months through March, increasing production by nearly 60 per cent over the previous year.
As Apple looks to diversify its supply chains away from China, the US company has ramped up iPhone assembly in India in recent years, working with suppliers like Foxconn and Pegatron. Cook had mentioned earlier that the majority of the iPhones sold in the US this quarter will be manufactured in India, owing to the trade war between the US and China.