Donald Trump's advice to Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'Don’t want you building in India'
Trump accused India of having one of the highest tariff barriers in the world. He claimed it’s very hard to sell American products in the country.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has asked Apple CEO Tim Cook not to move Apple iPhone production to India and focus on manufacturing in America.Over the past five years, India has emerged as one of the biggest manufacturing hubs of Apple iPhones, with the company's assembly lines in the country churning out smartphones worth $22 billion in 12 months last financial year. The US-based company produced 60 per cent more iPhones in India compared to the previous year.
Trump, who has upended global markets with his tariff offensive, said in Qatar that he doesn't want Cook to "build in India".
"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said.
Also read: Donald Trump claims India offered US a 'zero tariffs' trade deal
"He is building all over India. I don’t want you building in India," he said, adding Apple will be "upping their production in the United States".
Apple has been planning to diversify production out of China since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic due to geopolitical tensions.
Trump today accused India of having one of the highest tariff barriers in the world. He said it’s very hard to sell American products in the planet’s most populous nation.
Apple manufactures most of its products in China. In India, iPhones are assembled at Foxconn Technology Group’s plant and a plant run by the Tata Group.
Trump claims India made ‘zero-tariff’ offer
Meanwhile, Trump also claimed that India has made an offer to drop tariffs on US goods.
Speaking on Thursday at an event with business leaders in Qatar, Trump said the Indian government has “offered us a deal where they are willing to charge us no tariff".
Also read: Trade didn’t figure at all, says India after Trump links Indo-Pak truce to trade
Trump's remarks came days after he claimed he had used trade as a bargaining chip to broker a ceasefire understanding between New Delhi and Islamabad to end their military conflict.
Sources told HT on May 13 that trade didn’t figure at all in recent discussions between top US and Indian leaders on the India-Pakistan conflict.
India also dismissed Donald Trump's claim that the US had helped the two nations broker the ceasefire understanding.
Trump’s comments came days after India threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs in response to higher US duties on steel and aluminum.
With inputs from Bloomberg
