New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) US President Donald Trump, in a fresh salvo on Apple, on Friday warned that the i-phone manufacturer would have to pay a 25 percent tariff if the phones sold in the US were made in India or anywhere else.

‘’I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump said in a post on his social networking platform Truth Social. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25 percent must be paid by Apple to the US,’’ Trump said.

This is the second time during the past ten days that the US President is warning Tim Cook against investing in India. Trump had on May 15, told the Apple CEO that he did not want him to build in India. ‘’India can take care of themselves,’’ the US President had said at a business event in Doha. "I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good…I hear you are building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India,’’ the US President had said.

Apple has been ramping up production of i-phones in India and plans to increase the production by 25 percent in the next few years. to reduce dependence on China.

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