Trump demands that Apple manufacture iPhones in the United States, and threatens to impose new tariffs of 25% if it does not do so.

President Trump just criticized Apple A blog post on his account On social truth. The president said he had long told Apple CEO Tim Cook that iPhones sold in the United States should be made and manufactured in the United States, “not India, or anywhere else.”

He continues to threaten that if that doesn’t happen, “Apple must pay a tariff of at least 25%.” Details of the “tariff” are unclear, but the explosion shook investors, and Apple shares actually fell 3% in response to the announcement.

The seemingly improvised decree is a continuation of sentiments Trump shared earlier this month, when he said he had a “little issue” with Tim Cook when he heard the news that Apple was shifting iPhone production to India.

This prompted comments from Apple on its earnings call about how it intends to mitigate the impact of reciprocal tariffs on goods imported from China (although there has since been a temporary moratorium on this). Apple explained that the majority of iPhones sold in the United States in the June quarter will be manufactured in India. iPhone production in China will continue to serve the rest of the world. Likewise, US sales of Mac, iPad and AirPods will be produced from manufacturing facilities in Vietnam.

This strategy would allow Apple to reduce the impact of tariffs, but of course it does not really achieve Trump’s stated goals of bringing manufacturing back to America.

Apple has shown little interest in manufacturing iPhones domestically, partly because of cost and partly because of a lack of American expertise and available labor. Even if that were possible, it would likely take a decade to build facilities capable of producing enough units to satisfy the tens of millions of iPhones sold in the United States each year.

Overall, Apple and Cook have managed Trump very well in this presidency and in his previous term. However, this latest development today indicates that the company and management may be entering a more controversial phase.

Apple has not yet commented on Trump’s statements.