Apple Stock Falls as Trump Tariffs Target Supply Chain

[Velli]

Yep, we are and we are perfectly OK with it. Tell Tim Apple to ask those governments to remove or lower their tariffs on the US and we will do the same. It's not hard to understand. The US is NOT a charity.

The rest of the world is also not a charity for the US. The opposite will happen, the rest of the world will raise their tariffs, not lower them (mainly because some of the tariffs Trump is flaunting is a lie, such as VAT’s counted as tariffs).

What will happen is that the US will learn that even though they are the largest economy, the rest of the world combined is much larger. US vs the rest of the world is not a good bet. Everyone will lose, but US and especially US workers (including all the white collars that will have to become factory workers) will lose the most.

 

[sw1tcher]

You seem to miss the vital point. Most of the companies manufacturing in these countries are American companies who moved their manufacturing overseas to lower costs and increase their profits. Blame those greedy American CEO’s rather than poor countries trying to make their countries a bit richer.

Agree. The greedy CEOs made the way things are.

Are you referring to the Trumps

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/06/exclusive-trumps-made-in-america-slogan-doesnt-apply-to-ivanka.html

Despite President Donald Trump’s calls for American companies to manufacture their products in the U.S., shipments of his daughter’s branded, Chinese-made dresses have continued to land on U.S. shores since he took office, documents reviewed by NBC News show.

“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country,” Trump told his cheering supporters last year on the campaign trail in Indiana. “There are no jobs because China has our jobs.”

Some of those jobs are apparently still filled by Chinese workers assembling dresses for a licensee of Ivanka Trump’s namesake clothing line.

Since Election Day, the apparel brand run by Trump’s daughter has imported 56 shipments of Ivanka Trump products from China and Singapore, part of a total of 215 shipments from Asia since Jan. 1, 2016.


and Trump supporters?

https://www.axios.com/2022/08/07/lions-not-sheep-made-in-usa

The Federal Trade Commission ordered apparel company Lions Not Sheep and its owner Sean Whalen to stop labeling its products with fake "Made in USA" tags and pay more than $200,000 in fines.

The big picture: Lions Not Sheep is known for its pro-gun and pro-Trump shirts, featuring phrases like "Let's Go Brandon," "Give Violence a Chance" and "Shall Not Be Infringed."

Driving the news: The company was replacing the "Made in China" tags on its clothes with phony "Made in USA" tags, according to the FTC.

Where is 'MAGA' merchandise made?

The red “Make America Great Again” hat is one of the most iconic symbols of President Donald Trump's campaigns both in 2016 and in 2020. And that hat, sold through Donald Trump's official campaign website, is made in America. But that's definitely not the case for much of the Trump gear...

abcnews4.com

The red “Make America Great Again” hat is one of the most iconic symbols of President Donald Trump's campaigns both in 2016 and in 2020.

And that hat, sold through Donald Trump's official campaign website, is made in America.

But that's definitely not the case for much of the Trump gear available at his sold out rallies.

MAGA hats, t-shirts, and then there's the slogans and phrases. If you head to a Trump rally, you literally walk through a sea of vendors, hawking goods that support President Trump.

The ABC News 4 crew walked around outside the rally in North Charleston Friday, lifting the tags on several items. Many read made in China, in the Dominican Republic, in Haiti and in Honduras but not in the USA.

 

[Velli]

It will be interesting to see if there is an anti-American backlash from consumers around the world. That could affect sales of well known American brands such as Apple.

Read the news, it has been going on for weeks.

 

[0049190]

They’re working on a solution to avoid tariffs on microchips for Tesla.

Interesting to note that Tesla sales fell 13% in the last quarter and their share price has tanked. I don’t know if that’s directly related to his work on DOGE but it could be a warning to other CEOs like Tim Cook to think carefully about getting too close to Trump.

 

[RSmith2023]

Why would posters from Brazil or India complain about their iPhone prices? Apple doesn't import their phones into the US just to ship them to Brazil or India. What would justify that extra expense?

Because Brazil and India already apply their own tariffs on products so the relative cost of an iPhone in those countries is much higher than it is here.

 

[0049190]

Read the news, it has been going on for weeks.

I haven’t seen that in the news. Are you referring to anything specific?

 

[Velli]

Egg prices are down over the last month.

That’s the fallacy of the Trump opposition. They are hanging their hats on small temporary issues, which will sort itself over time and allow Trump to say “see, I fixed it”. Like when they are ridiculing Trump when stocks are down, and hiding when stocks are up. Instead of educating the public about the humongous deceit happening right in front of their eyes.

I will argue that Trump’s main asset is poor competition. Disney basically got Trump elected. Wonder how many Americans have the IQ to solve that puzzle.

 

[magicMac]

Well Apple could always just make the iPhone in the US for the US market. It’s not an insurmountable task.

 

[God of Biscuits]

I trust this thread will not get political at all and will only have positive vibes

Because all you need to do is call something political and that should invalidate any notion that it's not truly "real".

 

[RSmith2023]

Interesting to note that Tesla sales fell 13% in the last quarter and their share price has tanked. I don’t know if that’s directly related to his work on DOGE but it could be a warning to other CEOs like Tim Cook to think carefully about getting too close to Trump.

Tesla’s financial woes are directly related to international backlash to its CEO. People really do not like him so they have decided to stop buying vehicles from them.

I don’t think you can call what he’s doing as “getting close to Trump.” He has turned into an on-stage clown because he’s currently the richest man in the world and none of this matters to him. Now if SpaceX had a real competitor, that would change everything.

 

[God of Biscuits]

Well Apple could always just make the iPhone in the US for the US market. It’s not an insurmountable task.

That's just out of touch with reality.

 

[Velli]

I haven’t seen that in the news. Are you referring to anything specific?

Let me guess, your news source if Fox? Tesla sales are way down, that’s the most obvious one. All over Europe people have started boycotting US goods. In Denmark retailers (the largest chains, not some side street kiosk) are putting labels on products made in Europe so people can avoid buying American. And don’t get me started on Canada.

America Last: Why Shoppers Abroad Are Boycotting U.S. Goods

A growing number of Europeans and citizens of other countries are choosing not to buy American products to demonstrate their anger at President Trump’s policies.

www.nytimes.com

 

[God of Biscuits]

Of course it's not political, because Russia's on the tariff list, too. Russia, right? RIGHT?

 

[RSmith2023]

Well Apple could always just make the iPhone in the US for the US market. It’s not an insurmountable task.

You do understand how supply chain works right? It would take years before Apple could manufacture the iPhone in the US at scale to match US demand and with infrastructure and labor costs, it would probably be more expensive than paying the tariffs.

Apple’s real question is “How Much” of the added cost will it pass along to US buyers…

 

[0049190]

Let me guess, your news source if Fox? Tesla sales are way down, that’s the most obvious one. All over Europe people have started boycotting US goods. In Denmark retailers (the largest chains, not some side street kiosk) are putting labels on products made in Europe so people can avoid buying American. And don’t get me started on Canada.

America Last: Why Shoppers Abroad Are Boycotting U.S. Goods

A growing number of Europeans and citizens of other countries are choosing not to buy American products to demonstrate their anger at President Trump’s policies.

www.nytimes.com

I’m definitely not a Fox News viewer. I’m aware of the situation in Canada and Tesla. I wasn’t aware of people starting to boycott US products in Europe. That’s an interesting development. I’m fairly sure it’s illegal to deliberately mis-label products in this way so I suspect that won’t last long.

 

[Velli]

Presumably these tariffs will hit Apple hard given how reliant they are on foreign manufacturing. I don’t like the idea of paying even more for my Apple products.

It won’t feel so bad, because you’ll be paying even more for everything else too.

 

[contacos]

So, does the Congress in the US even exist anymore or is everyone just nodding their head in fear of angering the "leader" to everything he does. Trump USA sounds very Putin Russia from reading all these news from abroad.

Soon the US is going to miss even more skilled workers because no one is going to go there to study anymore when you have to live in fear of getting your visa revoked for liking the wrong meme online at any moment.

I expect many more countries will follow the Canadian trend of not buying American labeled products. It's already happening with Tesla. You see them on the streets and people are visibly rolling their eyes or they may even end up burning here in Berlin.

Fun times ahead! Worldwide. No wonder the new Mario Kart will retail for 90$

 

[d4cloo]

Are you winning yet, America? Perhaps next time don’t put a mobster in power.

 

[Velli]

I’m definitely not a Fox News viewer. I’m aware of the situation in Canada and Tesla. I thought you were referring to something else I hadn’t noticed.

I thought you said you hadn’t heard about consumer backlash around the world… Guess I am supposed to guess exactly which backlash you hadn’t heard about… oh well.

 

[Zest28]

That's what you get for outsourcing jobs.

 

[Velli]

Well Apple could always just make the iPhone in the US for the US market. It’s not an insurmountable task.

Yes, it is. And if they try, the price hike will be a lot more than 34%.

 

[Zest28]

Whats about to happen for anyone who has some cash is a massive SALE on stocks!

What? I thought you are supposed to Buy High, Sell low?

 

[Zest28]

Yes, it is. And if they try, the price hike will be a lot more than 34%.

Considering that the profit margin is 30% and Senior Management gets paid huge compensations due to making Chinese phones and selling it to the USA, the price increase will be way less than 34%.

Especially if some Android phone makers will start making their phones in the USA and undercutting Apple even more, as Apple is way too expensive already.

 

[magicMac]

That's just out of touch with reality.

Apple can definitely assemble lower volume products like the base iPad and iPhone 15 in the US. Both are using the A16 chip already being manufactured in the US now.

I would be surprised if it wasn’t already a contingency plan Apple have been working on for a while, with the looming tariffs.

It retains Apples position in the mid/low market when prices on the top level models go up due to tariffs.

 

[RSmith2023]

Does that mean Apple products manufactured in China will see a 34% price hike in the US?

Yes. They are imported into this country.

But Trump believes that the other country pays the tariffs and it doesn’t seem that he can be convinced otherwise.

He also believes that companies can just spin up advanced manufacturing plants and train the workers to run them overnight.

But foolish people voted for him, so this is what we have.

We’ll have to see how long he lets these play out, but I don’t think he’ll be able to walk these back as easily as the ones he merely “paused.”