While Apple has been seeking relief in regards to tariff exemptions regarding the new Mac Pro for quite some time, it continues to be an uphill battle for the company.
Last month, Apple confirmed that the new Mac Pro will be manufactured in Austin, Texas. The decision was made possible in part because Apple was granted exclusions from tariffs on certain components sourced from China. However, not all Mac Pro components are tariff exempt.
According to a new report from Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman and Mark Niquette, Apple has failed to get tariff exemptions on five components used in the Mac Pro, four of which are essential to its operation. All five components will reportedly incur a 25 percent tariff and therefore could impact either the price Apple charges for the Mac Pro, or the profit margin on each Mac Pro sold.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office said the five exclusion requests were denied because Apple couldn’t prove the tariffs would “cause severe economic harm” to the company or other U.S. interests.
Consequently, the tariff will be applied to the optional wheels, a circuit board managing input and output ports, the power adapter, charging cable and a processor cooling system. The news came just a matter of days after Apple announced it would make the Mac Pro in Texas.
As with the 2013 Mac Pro, the updated 2019 model will be manufactured in Texas. The computer doesn’t have an exact release date yet, though Apple said it’ll begin production “soon.” The company previously said the new computer, which starts at $5,999 USD, would be available in the fall.
Products such as the Apple Watch, AirPods and iMac computers were hit by 15% tariffs earlier this month, while the iPhone, iPad and other major Apple products are set to be impacted later in December. Apple has maintained that its products are primarily designed in the U.S. and has grown its local investment since the trade war began brewing.
