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Interesting and fairly reasonable decisions have been made. Of course what we don't know can still hurt us, but this is certainty worth inquiry. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the tariff argument is a bluff. It's all about leveraging against China, not about actually hurting them.

Trump knows his billionaire buddies are heavily invest in AAPL and other residents of mutual funds... he can't mess with their portfolios.

Right...
 
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Kind of a "no sh**, Sherlock" situation, given the U.S. has no capability to build these products. There's not even a single OLED plant in the country. How the heck is Apple supposed to comply?

It would be like placing tariffs on McDonald's unless they agreed to make burgers out of unicorns instead of beef.
 
The best thing that Apple released last week was the Apple Watch. The iPhone updates are great but not revolutionary; no need to indulge there.

I am just about the age group that will benefit from the advanced Electro Cardiogram function, the purchase will be right. Wonder why the younger age groups will need the Apple Watch 4, other than as bling?

Do not care about this tariff exemption for the Apple products - if they can funnel my cash into the Corn-Ethanol scam, and rescue the mega-rich farming conglomerates to offset the crisis created by the administration, they don't need my tax money from Apple or any product.

Give a $1000 tax credit and make the living expenses go up by $2000 to $5000/year - nice con by Drumpf and the Conservatives.
 
Protectionist policies are actually very much a left leaning view and something not many Republicans agree on (unless you count using increased tariffs as a means to end them).

If the goal is to use them as negotiating leverage to lower tariffs on both sides, I think it makes more sense.

Hogwash. Protectionism stopped being a left-right issue nearly two decades ago. Everyone embraces free trade now...except for when it doesn’t suit them financially or politically.
 
But tariffs would still apply to iPhones, Macs, etc.? In that case we should be prepared for the already exorbitant Max to reach new heights of exorbitant-ness.
 
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All the mean things Cook said and Trump still gives Apple a pass. He is a merciful kind man.

So what is the heck explains the absurdly high prices?
 
But tariffs would still apply to iPhones, Macs, etc.? In that case we should be prepared for the already exorbitant Max to reach new heights of exorbitant-ness.

No, there are no tariffs on iPhone. Because it's based on the same logic as this exemption. The U.S. has no capability to make even basic components like the aluminum enclosures.

Apple sells over 200 million iPhones per year. That's literally 600,000 aluminum enclosures every 24 hours. No domestic supplier can even come close to that capacity or have the CNC equipment.
 
Protectionist policies are actually very much a left leaning view

What nonsensical BS!

Protectionism and Conservatism define each other and neither are definitely not broad-minded/progressive.

Import only tea and silk from China - things they make that we can never.
 
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Tim Cook, the hero, asked Donald Trump, the bad guy, for a favor and the bad guy did it for him. Therefore, Trump is the bad guy and Tim Cook is still the hero. Got it.
 
Looks like the rate is going to be 10% for the $200 billion tariff tranche instead of the 25% they talked about originally....a big difference. Cook got it done, this was going to be in place for the Series 4 arrival.

The $262 billion follow on tariff, talked to arrive with November for all smartphones (about when the Xr lands - that last week of October), originally talked about as 25% (but we'll see now) is the next one.
 
Protectionist policies are actually very much a left leaning view and something not many Republicans agree on (unless you count using increased tariffs as a means to end them).

If the goal is to use them as negotiating leverage to lower tariffs on both sides, I think it makes more sense.

The modern Republican party is Trump's protectionist party now. Free-market neoliberalism is now in the domain of modern Democrats. Democrats even rejected Bernie Sanders protectionism.

It's why working-class whites voted for Trump, because of his protectionism.
 
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So then the $70 price increase on the Series 4 was not due to tariffs but due to Apple's greed?

Checked the price of gasoline since 2017 January?

The price for such an elite system with the advanced ECG system and bigger face is worth the increase - though I'd prefer that Apple reduced the price of the watches by about $150 across the board.

Waiting for an October surprise.
 
I support the tariffs against China. If American consumers aren't willing to pay a little extra to distance themselves from cheap Chinese slave labor while China continues to economically cheat, steal American intellectual property, and steal American technology, then they deserve to lose their place in the world.

A lot of people don't realize it, but China is at war with the west and wants to surpass the United States by any means possible. They are patient and methodical. A world where China is the most powerful country in the world has profound implications on digital freedom and privacy and human rights in general. In Xinjiang China is putting hundreds of thousands of minorities in concentration camps.
 
It's been brought up that the Watch price hike was exactly in line with the China wearables tariffs...I suppose they're just going to keep it there this generation and pocket the difference.
 
But tariffs would still apply to iPhones, Macs, etc.? In that case we should be prepared for the already exorbitant Max to reach new heights of exorbitant-ness.

Yes, that's exactly how I read this. Sounds like some compromise where Trump throws Apple a bone on their new low cost junk and the real meat of their product line is tariffed.
 
But Trump will increase taxes on everything else, punishing the poor and the elderly on fixed-income the most, since they rely on commodity imported goods the most.

This is how Trump and the Republicans punish Americans - by raising prices for everything.

Trump will squeeze every last penny out of you!

And Apple doesn’t with their pricing? Just stop
 
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