Trump tells Apple’s Tim Cook to stop building factories in India

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he told Apple Inc. chief executive officer Tim Cook to stop building factories in India that make devices for the US, adding that following the conversation, the iPhone maker will be stepping up production in the US.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said in Qatar, where he’s on a state visit.

“I said to him, Tim, you’re my friend. I treated you very well. You’re coming in with $500 billion. But now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India. You can build in India if you want to take care of India,” Trump said, indicating that he is okay with Apple building products in India for that market.

The US president also remarked about India’s “high tariff structure.”

Trump said that India proposed a zero-tariff arrangement against earlier high tariffs that “hindered” business operations.

He said he has had tariff talks with India, saying Delhi has made an offer to drop duties on US goods.

Following Trump’s remarks, Indian government officials engaged with Apple representatives, who confirmed that their investment plans in India are unchanged, the Press Trust of India reported.

India has one of the highest tariff barriers in the world and it’s very hard to sell American products there, Trump claimed.

Most made-in-India iPhones are assembled at Foxconn’s factory in south India.

Tata group’s electronics manufacturing subsidiary, which bought Wistron Corp.’s local business and runs Pegatron Corp.’s operations in India, is another key supplier.

A few weeks ago, Tim Cook had said that Apple plans to source phones to be sold in the US from India in the June quarter, while Chinese plants will make devices for other markets.

Apple, which makes most of its iPhones in China, has no phone production in the US but has vowed to hire more workers at home and spend $500 billion over the next four years.

Apple increased production in India to offset potential cost surges in the US market.

iPhone plants in India make about 40 million units annually, or about 15% of the yearly output. Around 20% of iPhones shipped to the US now originate from India, Counterpoint Research showed.