President Donald Trump has threatened Apple with a 25% tariff if it does not start producing iPhones in the U.S., his latest salvo directly targeting a U.S. company over how it conducts its business.
In a post on his Truth Social platform Friday morning, Trump wrote he had “long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else.”
“If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.” Trump said.
An Apple rep declined to comment. Less than 24 hours earlier, the Financial Times reported Apple was finalizing plans for a $1.5 billion iPhone component production center in India.
Trump’s post sent shares of Apple lower as much as 4% in pre-market trading, and tipped stock futures into negative territory.
Just minutes later, Trump posted to Truth Social again and threatened blanket 50% tariffs on the European Union, saying trade negotiations with the region were “going nowhere.”
That sent markets into deeper negative territory, with S&P 500 futures dropping as much as 1.5%.
Trump has recently begun ramping up direct attacks against U.S. companies whose policies he sees as negative responses to his tariffs plan. Last week, the president hit out at Walmart after it said it would likely be forced to raise its prices, telling the retail giant to “EAT THE TARIFFS.”
Walmart subsequently issued a statement saying it would work to keep prices low “as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins.”
Earlier this month, Trump threatened Mattel with a “100% tariff” on its toys if it did not move production of them to the U.S. Mattel told CNBC that it would still likely be forced to adjust prices in the U.S. and that it didn’t foresee being able to move manufacturing to the U.S.
And last month, administration officials called a report that Amazon would begin labeling tariffs costs at checkout a “hostile and political act,” with Trump personally calling founder Jeff Bezos to complain. Within hours of the call, Amazon sought to downplay the scope of its plan — and then announced that it had been scrapped entirely.
Trump regularly engages in back-and-forth policy directives, but his targeting of Apple may represent a more serious threat. Trump had already signaled last week his displeasure with Apple CEO Tim Cook, telling members of the media: “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said. “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.”
Roughly 80% of all iPhones are currently made in China, which is still facing an approximately 40% all-in tariff even after the U.S. agreed to a climbdown from the 145% tariffs Trump had earlier imposed. In April, Reuters reported Apple had begun making plans to shift production of the iPhone to India by the end of 2026.
New iPhones are currently priced at approximately $1,199. Wall Street analysts have offered up various estimates about how much a made-in-America iPhone would cost, ranging from $1,500 to $3,500, depending on how much of its supply chain Apple is ultimately able to re-shore.
In a note to clients Friday following Trump’s post, Wedbush Securities managing director Dan Ives, who first gave the $3,500 estimate in April, called the idea of U.S.-made phones a “fairy tale.” He said he believed Apple would continue to attempt to negotiate with the administration to come to a resolution.
