Trump Goes After Tim Cook
“President Trump fired new salvos in the global trade war on Friday, threatening a 50% tariff on imported goods from the European Union and new duties on iPhones and other smartphones made overseas.
Trump said the EU had been ‘very difficult to deal with’ on trade in a Friday morning social-media post. Less than a half hour earlier, he threatened Apple and its chief executive, Tim Cook, with a tariff of at least 25% on iPhones made overseas.
‘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,’ he wrote on Truth Social.
‘If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.,’ the president wrote.
Later on Friday, in Oval Office comments, Trump said those tariffs will include ‘Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.’ Trump appeared to be referring to companies that manufacture smartphones outside of the U.S. He added that the tariffs would likely be imposed in late June.”
The development that likely led to this latest battle was news of Apple ramping iPhone production in India. For an administration that has been pushing a narrative involving firms embracing U.S. manufacturing, reports of Apple increasing its bet on India for iPhone production likely didn’t go over well.
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