WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 25% tariff on Apple products unless iPhones are made in America, a move that will likely impact the company’s production plans in India.Trump also said he would impose a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union.The threats, delivered over social media, reflect Trump’s ability to disrupt the global economy with a burst of typing, as well as the reality that his tariffs have yet to produce the trade deals he is seeking or the return of domestic manufacturing.Apple now joins Amazon, Walmart and other major US companies in the White House’s crosshairs as they try to respond to the uncertainty and inflationary pressures unleashed by his tariffs.“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s (sic) that will be sold in the US will be manufactured and built in the US, not India, or any place else,” Trump wrote. “If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US.” The statement suggests Apple itself would bear the price of tariffs, contradicting his earlier claims that foreign countries would shoulder the cost of the import taxes.
