As the Bible says, a leopard can’t change its spots, and a Big Tech oligarch doesn’t change his modus operandi.
Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook came to the White House to meet Donald Trump and announce an additional $100 billion investment in American manufacturing that would allegedly create tens of thousands of jobs for Americans. Trump, of course, was excited because he wants to build products here in America. And that’s a good start, but someone was deceptive somewhere, because Cook reportedly said at a company call this past week that Apple makes nearly all the iPhones sold in the USA in India. In fact, Apple is definitely expanding its operations in India.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe Trump made this announcement absolutely in good faith, and I think Apple expanding U.S. operations is good for the jobs market, but I also think monopolistic Apple shouldn’t be allowed breaks if it is going to keep building and investing more in our competitor nations. Perhaps Trump needs to sit down with Cook and have a talk with him about not increasing manufacturing in India. Trump has the power to threaten the breakup of monopolies and increase tariffs. Why not use it to the full extent?
In fact, it does not appear that Cook specifically said anything about the iPhones being manufactured in America or anywhere else during his White House speech. He made a big deal out of the new manufacturing of chips, artificial intelligence servers, and iPhone glass in America. But what was left unsaid is that Apple is not just transitioning manufacturing from other countries to America. It is expanding its operations in India, where, of course, the labor is cheaper. So Cook shouldn’t get as many kudos as he has been getting.
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Apple secured a tariff exemption for its chips, so perhaps the whole goal was to be a little vague about expansion in other countries that are our competitors. iPhone glass made in America will be on iPhones made in India. Not ideal.
India’s Business Today reported that speaking during a company earnings call, Cook said, “In terms of the country of origin, it's the same as I referenced last quarter. There hasn't been a change to that, which is the vast majority of the iPhones sold in the US or the majority, I should say, have a country of origin of India.” The Economic Times likewise reported that, per the call, China remains a major manufacturing hub for Apple — even though China’s Communist regime is America’s number one enemy — and that Apple’s India market is expanding.
While I cannot absolutely verify what numerous outlets reported Cook saying on that call, the facts appear to support the accusation that Apple is focusing on India investment. Apple supplier Foxconn is moving away from China amid the tariff wars, only to announce a $1.5 billion investment in India. Now, since India was hit with high tariffs by Trump too, Foxconn might be regretting that, although it is investing in the U.S. as well.
Apple also contracts with other manufacturers in India, and in late April, Apple promised to keep investing in India and bragged that “global earnings of India-based developers have tripled, underscoring the tremendous business opportunity and global reach the App Store provides.” India’s Apple Store app launched in January, and last November, Apple set up its first R&D subsidiary in India. At the end of April, Reuters cited an unnamed source to say most U.S.-sold iPhones will be made in India by 2026.
All of this is to say that America shouldn’t reward Apple unless it shifts the bulk of its operations out of China and India and into America. We want iPhones made in America, not made in India.
