US President Donald Trump said he has asked Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook to stop building plants in India as the iPhone maker plans to diversify manufacturing out of China. "I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. He's building everywhere in India. I don't want you building in India," Trump said, referring to a conversation with the Apple chief executive officer during his state visit to Qatar. As a result of the discussion, Trump said Apple will "increase its production in the US."

"We're not interested in you building in India. India can take care of itself," the US president said, according to reports from news agencies. Trump said India has one of the world's highest tariff barriers, and it is very difficult to sell US products in the world's most populous country. He, however, said India has offered to reduce tariffs on US goods as the Asian nation seeks a compromise on import taxes.

The president's statement will impact Apple's plan to source most of its US iPhone supplies from India by the end of next year to reduce its reliance on China amid tariffs and geopolitical concerns. Apple makes most of its iPhones in China and has no smartphone production in the US.

Apple and its suppliers have accelerated a process of distancing themselves from the world's second-largest economy that began when stringent COVID-19 lockdowns hurt production at its biggest plant. Tariffs imposed by Trump and Beijing-Washington tensions have prompted Apple to step up the effort.

The vast majority of iPhones made in India are assembled at Foxconn Technology Group's factory in southern India. Tata Group's electronics manufacturing unit, which bought Wistron Corp.'s local business and runs Pegatron Corp.'s operations in India, is also a major supplier. Tata and Foxconn are building new plants and expanding production capacity in southern India, media reports said.

Apple assembled $22 billion worth of iPhones in India in the 12 months through March, a roughly 60% increase in production compared to last year.

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