Trump Talks American Made iPhone, India & Iran At Qatar Meeting (Full Remarks)

US President Donald Trump said he’s asked Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook to stop building plants in India, taking aim at the iPhone maker’s plans to diversify its manufacturing beyond China.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said of his conversation with the Apple chief executive officer in Qatar, where he’s on a state visit. “He is building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.” As a result of their discussion, Trump said Apple will be “upping their production in the United States.”

India has one of the highest tariff barriers in the world and it’s very hard to sell American products in the planet’s most populous country, Trump said. He said, though, that India has made an offer to drop tariffs on US goods, as the Asian nation seeks an agreement on import taxes.

The comments came as President Donald Trump said India has made an offer to drop tariffs on US goods, as the Asian nation negotiates a deal to avert higher import taxes.

Speaking Thursday at an event with business leaders in Qatar, Trump said the Indian government has “offered us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff.”

Trump didn’t provide further details of New Delhi’s apparent offer and the Indian government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

India was one of the first countries to begin trade negotiations with the US following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House in February, with both sides agreeing to finalize the first phase of a bilateral deal by the fall. India’s trade minister is expected to meet Trump administration officials in the US from May 17-20 for further negotiations.

President Donald Trump also said the US might be getting closer to an agreement with Iran to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

“I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal,” Trump said in Qatar at an event with business leaders on Thursday. “You probably read the story that Iran has sort of agreed to the terms.”

Trump appeared to be referring to an NBC interview with Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in which Shamkhani reiterated Tehran’s position that it’s willing to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.


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