Trump Might Reconsider Tariffs on Apple Products Built in China: Bloomberg

Apple is lobbying President Trump hard on why its products made in China should not be hit with 10 percent tariffs come September 1, which will include the Apple Watch, AirPods, and other Apple products.

Wikipedia

According to a new report from Bloomberg, US President Donald Trump said Sunday Apple CEO Tim Cook made a “very compelling argument” during a meeting with him on how paying tariffs would make it difficult for the tech giant to compete with the likes of Samsung.

“I had a very good meeting with Tim Cook,” said Trump to reporters on Sunday, according to Bloomberg. “Tim was talking to me about tariffs. And one of the things, and he made a good case, is that Samsung is their number one competitor, and Samsung is not paying tariffs because they’re based in South Korea.”

Trump continued: “I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I’m thinking about it.”


Apple will be hit by tariffs because it makes most of its devices in China before importing them to the US and other parts of the world.

Samsung, however, builds its products across several countries, including Vietnam and South Korea in addition to China. That means their tariff impact will be far less than the impact to Cupertino, California-based Apple.

Trump, meanwhile, has called for Apple to build its devices in the United States. Apple does the majority of its research and development in the US, but assembles the bulk of its devices overseas. This appeared to be his preoccupation prior to his meeting with Cook on Friday, as he tweeted, “Having dinner tonight with Tim Cook of Apple. They will be spending vast sums of money in the U.S. Great!”

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