Economy. “Made in USA” iPhones or 25% customs duties: Donald Trump’s threat to Apple

"I have long informed Apple's Tim Cook that I expect iPhones sold in the US to be manufactured and built in the US, not in India or elsewhere. If this is not the case, Apple will have to pay tariffs of at least 25% in the US," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

During his trip to Qatar last week, the US president claimed to have told Apple CEO Tim Cook: "We treated you very well. We accepted all the factories you built in China over the years."

"We're not interested in you building them in India. India can take care of itself, it's doing very well," he continued, during the second leg of his Gulf tour. "We want you to build here (in the United States)," he added.

During Apple's latest earnings call in early May, Tim Cook said he expected "the majority of iPhones sold in the United States" during the current quarter to come from India. This measure allowed the company to avoid the 145% tariffs imposed by the United States on products from China, traditionally the heart of the famous smartphone manufacturing industry. Since then, the two countries have agreed to a 90-day truce on their tariff surcharges.