U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that Apple could face a tariff of at least 25% if iPhones sold in the United States are not manufactured domestically. The announcement triggered a 3% drop in Apple shares during Wall Street trading. The Dow Jones slipped 0.6%, the S&P 500 fell 0.7%, and the Nasdaq declined 1%.
“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”
It remains unclear whether the president has the authority to impose tariffs on a single company. Apple did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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Trump also said he's planning to impose a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union, citing a lack of progress in ongoing trade negotiations. “Talks are going nowhere,” he said.
Apple has recently accelerated its shift away from Chinese manufacturing, expanding production in India to reduce exposure to potential U.S. tariffs targeting Beijing. The U.S. and China are currently engaged in trade negotiations that temporarily froze steep reciprocal tariffs, including a 145% tariff imposed by Washington.
As part of this strategy, Apple announced in recent weeks that most iPhones sold in the U.S. will soon come from India, beginning this quarter. If Trump follows through with his tariff threat, the company may be forced to reassess those plans.