Apple and the Trump administration appear to be on a collision course, with President Trump threatening 25% tariffs on all iPhones made outside the US.

Trump recently took issue with Apple’s plans to move a significant part of its iPhone manufacturing from China to India. Apple had investing in manufacturing in India for years, but the escalating trade war between the US and China has added impetus to the company’s efforts.

Trump addressed move, saying he was unhappy with CEO Tim Cook over the company’s India plans.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said. “I said to him, ‘my friend, I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India.’ I don’t want you building in India.

“I said to Tim, I said, ‘Tim look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you build in China for years, now you got build us. We’re not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves … we want you to build here,’” Trump added.

In a post on his Truth Social, Trump has upped the ante.

I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank your for your attention to this matter!

Apple has always left open the door to manufacturing iPhones in the US if the US could demonstrate that it has the ability to support such an endeavor. As CNN points out, Steve Jobs himself was pessimistic that would ever happen. In a meeting with then-President Barack Obama in 2010, Jobs said it took 30,000 industrial engineers to support on-site factory workers, something the US lacks since its education system doesn’t turn out enough high-end engineers.

“You can’t find that many in America to hire,” Jobs told Obama. “If you could educate these engineers, we could move more manufacturing plants here.”

Cook has echoed that statement.

“I want there to be … and you can bet that we’ll use the whole of our influence on this.”

As Trump acknowledged in his post, Apple has made a $500 billion commitment to manufacturing in the US, but that investment doesn’t change the realities of manufacturing electronics in the US. While it is certainly possible to eventually manufacture the iPhone in the US, it is not a change that will happen overnight. As Jobs pointed out, there is a severe lack of qualified engineers to oversee a manufacturing operation of Apple’s scale. In addition, the US has long-since lost the support companies and industries that would be required for a large-scale iPhone manufacturing presence, something that both China and India already have.

Apple may one day move iPhone manufacturing to the US, but it will be a long process that can only happen when logistical and manufacturing realities are addressed.