'If that's not the case...': Trump blasts Apple, Samsung for India shift, says 25% tariff coming if they don't move

Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 25% tariff on iPhones and other smartphones made outside the U.S., blasting Apple for shifting production to India and demanding the company “build in America—or pay.”

Trump’s warning came via a fiery post on Truth Social, where he said he had “long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple” that iPhones sold in the U.S. must be made domestically. “If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.,” the former president wrote.

Speaking in the Oval Office later that day, Trump confirmed the tariff would apply to all smartphone manufacturers, not just Apple. “It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product,” he said. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently told investors that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will soon be made in India, citing expanded manufacturing operations there. Trump, who met Cook during his Middle East trip last week, publicly rebuked him in Qatar: “I said to him, ‘Tim, you’re my friend… but I don’t want you building in India.’”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the proposed tariffs, telling Fox News the administration wants to “bring back precision manufacturing” and secure the semiconductor supply chain, which is critical to Apple’s products.

Apple declined to comment on the tariff threat, but has previously warned that U.S.-made iPhones could be economically unfeasible. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the idea “a fairy tale,” estimating a $3,500 price tag per device if the production ecosystem were rebuilt in America. Shifting just 10% of Apple’s iPhone supply chain to the U.S. would cost $30 billion and take three years, Ives added.

Tim Cook has acknowledged these hurdles, pointing to the lack of a large pool of industrial engineers in the U.S. Apple has invested billions to train such workers abroad, especially in China and India.

Despite the pushback, Apple has announced a $500 billion domestic investment this year, including a new server facility in Houston and expanded data centers. Still, analysts say it’s unlikely to satisfy Trump’s demand.

Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management warned that Apple may eventually pass tariff costs on to consumers. “At some point, they’re going to have to start to share it,” he said.