Trump has a problem with Tim Cook, because Foxconn is building factories in India
President Trump says he has a "little problem with Tim Cook," apparently because Foxconn -- a company that Cook is not the CEO of -- has been expanding factories in India for years.
Tim Cook (left) and Trump in a previous meeting -- image credit: White House
Tim Cook has famously handled Trump better than many or most business CEOs, which resulted in him getting Apple a crucial exemption in the first tariffs, and then at least temporary ones in the new "reciporcal" tariffs. But now Trump is saying Apple's suppliers need to come through on manufacturing in the US, and that the announced $500 billion plan isn't enough.
"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said to press on May 15, 2025, according to CNBC. "I said to him, 'my friend, I 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."
"I said to Tim, I said, 'Tim look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you build in China for years, now you got build us," he continued. "We're not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves... we want you to build here'."
Trump then told press that Apple would be "upping" its manufacturing in the US, although as ever he gave no details. These latest comments follow a similarly unspecific claim on May 12 where Trump said Tim Cook will "even up his numbers."
The "reciprocal" tariffs are still claimed to be punishing other countries, and persuading firms to bring manufacturing to the States. In reality, tariffs are fees paid by US firms and consumers, while other countries are benefiting from companies moving production to them.
That does include Apple suppliers, who have been spending billions to expand in India over the last several years. The result is that at present, India makes one in five of all iPhones.
Apple does not own its suppliers, and Foxconn's plan to double iPhone production in India by the end of 2025 is its own. Similarly, the two new iPhone factories being opened by Foxconn and India's own Tata Group are not owned by Apple.
However, as long ago as 2019, Apple has been reported to have a special team explicitly investigating the costs of moving out of China for both it and its suppliers. In 2022, it was claimed that the company has reportedly also asked suppliers to make such a move.
Tariffs just hasten the move to India
This reshoring does now have the advantage that it helps minimize the impact of Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs. While Apple and other firms still face tariffs on imports, the rate is lower than it would be with China.
However, Apple has also been expanding to India and Vietnam expressly in order to cut its over-reliance on China. Problems with China during COVID delayed the iPhone 14 Pro, for instance, and subsequently the country has implemented intermittent power cuts on factories.
Manufacturing will not return to the US
In the case of Apple, Trump has repeatedly said that the iPhone could be built in the US. Similarly, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said Apple is just waiting for robots before it moves production to the States.
Lutnick said that was what Tim Cook told him, although there is some doubt whether he and Cook actually spoke. It's also not clear how using robots to build the iPhone would bring back jobs to the US.
It's also moot, though, and up to now it's been solely a political as it's impossible since the US has neither the required skilled labor, or the rare minerals needed.
Trump's latest comments, though, seem to escalate the tensions between the White House and Apple. They don't bode well for the semiconductor tariffs Apple is certain to be hit later.
Apple has not yet commented on Trump's statements. It probably won't.
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Comments
The truth will end up somewhere in the middle. Many companies CAN do more here in the US. As Americans we have
become addicted to cheap labor at our own long term expense. We can do MORE in the USA. Maybe some things
don't make sense, but we have to realize that many of the "cheap" products we are buying, are part of why our national
debt is getting cranked up. We are paying, whether we see it out the cashier or not. We are also paying a lot for many
middle men in Pharmaceuticals, Health Care, Education and more. There are a lot of unproductive people out there
leaching off the American taxpayer. If I have to pay $500 more for an iPhone and it starts to bring down our debt, so
be it. Bash Trump all you want. He's the only President in recent history to have the balls to face these facts and at
least TRY to do something about the problems. It takes a BIG PUSHER to move BIG BUREAUCRACIES and the status
quo. The middle men will not give up their loot easily.
Alas, this is real life.
And I was under the impression that Foxconn has other customers than Apple. Am I wrong?
Obviously it's not "impossible" to make iPhones in the US. They might be as scarce and expensive as a Hermes handbag, but not impossible.
Apple´s stock performance is already showing that Apple is the worst performer based on YTD among all Magnificant 7 companies.
and the president did say it was a “little issue” not huge. Not crazy. Just something on his radar. As anyone would expect. So we will see what moves Tim, Foxconn, and others make in the coming months.
If robots were that cheap and capable, you'd be getting your Quarter Pounder at McDonald's that was made by a robot and not some pimply teen. But McDonald's has used machine assistance in large parts of their operation (processing raw ingredients, using machines to make supplies like bags and boxes, using forklifts in warehouses to move pallets).
Expanding iPhone production in India makes sense because India was making iPhones before the current administration took office. There's already a supply chain infrastructure set up there plus a labor market. And places like India, China, Vietnam have two 12-hour shifts. Here in the USA, it would have to be 8-hour shifts and finding a place where there's a sizable labor market that can hire skilled individuals to work graveyard shift would be very challenging. Apple's manufacturing partners can't build an iPhone factory in Boondocksville, USA and find enough people to staff it. Something like a chip fab works better since the staffing requirements are much lighter.
It's easy to find 100,000 people in Shenzhen to build iPhones because it has a population of over 17 million. The top twelve Chinese cities have a population over 9 million (which are all larger than New York City). In the USA there are only four cities with a population over 2 million.
India overtook China several years ago in total population and is growing at a much faster rate.
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