Investing.com - U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he has spoken with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook in a bid to dissuade him from growing production in India.
Trump said he told Cook that he did not want him to be "building in India", adding that "India can take care of themselves, they are doing very well".
Apple, instead, will be moving to increase its production in the United States, Trump said.
Shares in the iPhone manufacturer were marginally lower in premarket U.S. trading on Thursday.
The comments at a business event Qatar come as Trump said India had agreed to effectively drop all tariffs on U.S. goods as part of a potential trade deal.
Trump had previously suggested that a ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan following a bout of recent violence between the two was predicated on a trade truce -- a claim that Indian officials have denied.
New Delhi has also said it was willing to slap retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. in response to American duties on steel and aluminum.
Still, trade discussions between the U.S. and India are on track, Bloomberg News has reported. India’s trade minister is anticipated to hold talks with U.S. officials in the coming days, with both sides having targeted finalizing the first phase of a trade agreement by this fall.