In another stern warning to US tech behemoth Apple Inc., US President Donald Trump said it must make iPhones to be sold in the US in the country only or face a 25% tariff. "I have 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. Thank your for your attention to this matter!" Trump said in a strongly worded warning to Apple CEO Tim Cook on the Truth Social platform.

This is Trump's second warning to Apple in a week. Just last week at an event with business leaders in Qatar, he said he had a "little problem with Tim Cook", as Apple is "building all over India". Trump added: "I don’t want you building in India.”

Apple later clarified that its plans for India remain unchanged, and that the iPhones meant for the U.S. will be made in India. Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s IT Minister, recently revealed Apple exported a massive ₹1.5 lakh crore, or $17.4 billion, worth of iPhones from India in FY25.

Trump's repeated warning will surely cause a disruption to Apple's plan to source a majority of its iPhones to be supplied to the US from India, as the company eyes cutting production in China, considering the global uncertainty caused by the ongoing tariff war.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, which assembles Apple’s iPhones, will infuse $1.5 billion in its Indian subsidiary. Foxconn’s Singapore-based subsidiary will buy 12.77 billion shares worth ₹10 apiece, totalling about ₹12,774 crore ($1.5 billion) in Yuzhan Technology India.

Unlike others, Apple does its manufacturing in two to three countries. The iPhone is made only in China and India. There are some operations in Vietnam relating to iMac and iPad, but the scale and growth opportunities of manufacturing in India are second only to China.

This development comes at a time when uncertainty looms large, fuelled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s all-out tariff impositions on allies and adversaries alike. This has led companies like Foxconn to diversify geographically and have alternative manufacturing bases, a welcoming development for India as it entails big-ticket investments.

Foxconn—along with two other Apple vendors, Wistron and Pegatron—have been part of the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme announced by the government in 2020. Wistron was bought out by Tata Electronics in FY24. Foxconn has a presence in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, and according to the report, the contract manufacturer will wind down its operations in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.

Last week, the Union Cabinet also approved a ₹3,706 crore proposal by HCL Group and Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) to set up a semiconductor Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility near the upcoming Jewar airport in Uttar Pradesh.

Marking the sixth semiconductor project approved under the India Semiconductor Mission, and the fifth in chip packaging, what sets this one apart is its focus on wafer-level packaging (WLP)—a more advanced and value-added form of chip assembly that brings India closer to global technology standards.