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iPhones, Macs, and Other Apple Devices Exempted From Trump Tariffs

Few of us here would call $1000 smart phones cheap or even reasonable. Doubling their costs via tariffs or by rehoming production would price many people out totally. And it isn't just about "cheap consumer goods". Many imported products go to businesses, to include manufacturers, who sell their creations here and export internationally. The number of people engaged in this business dwarfs those employed in "manufacturing", so it is a fool's errand to just support manufacturing jobs in a vacuum of knowledge as to the overall effects of tariffs on the economy.

bluecoast said:
I'm not American, but well said.

As you say, I wonder how many Americans - and Europeans! - truly understand that our addiction to getting consumer goods for less - and our companies getting juicy profit margins - is helping China bootstrap its way to challenging America and perhaps superseding it to being the world's dominant power.

But we'll have reasonably priced consumer electronics so that will be OK, right?
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MichaelAdam said:
Mr President … Think before you act maybe … There is a lot of sense in many of your actions but the world won’t change in a few months … your action on tariffs has the benefit to open a négociation and make many people poorer and some richer thanks to the stock market rollercoaster and the hints you gave on X / Truth …
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To me it's more like:
Mr. President…Think before you act maybe….There is absolutely no sense whatsoever in any of your actions…..
 
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raylo32 said:
Part of the way Trump works to keep the outrage down is to relax his bad policies in ways like this that will prop up the economy and stock market. IOW, if people see that their retirement savings are sound they will be less likely to protest and more likely to let Trump get away with his other corrupt BS. I fully expect that excepting phones and computers from the tariffs will help Apple and hence the stock market because of Apple's outsize share of the S&P. That should also help my retirement investements. I still plan to attend the protest here next weekend one way or the other but I share your skepticism that enough people will stay sufficiently outraged if their personal situations are not jeopardized.
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Good that you plan to attend protests. I hope many, many more people will.
It obviously works like that…People first mind their own business. If that is ok, then everything is ok and Trump can indeed do what he wants. "Overshot" / " Excessive" (?) individualism vs. collectivism. Both have their place…but not only one of them.
In the long term however, they'll probably regret it.
And then it will be too late.
 
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bsolar said:
"Caught up" is a difficult concept to apply to those who are in fact ultimately responsible for what is happening.

The power belongs to those same citizens and they collectively decided to give the president authority to exercise it. Said power still belongs to the citizens though and they are still ultimately responsible for how it's being used.
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bsolar said:
You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility.
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That! Very true! Thank you.
 
darkpaw said:
Then my point stands. Why would anyone deal with Trump if giving him money gets you just enough access to do a bit, but not enough to stop your company losing hundreds of billions in value?

Trump cannot be trusted.
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No one said Trump can be trusted, I certainly didn't, and agree he cannot (nor should any politician, but especially him) be trusted.

This isn't "just a bit", access to the Beltway has always been important (read: K Street lobbyists), but for many, now, in this administration, retaining any level of access is an existiential necessity, not just an "edge". See what is happening to those who aren't "paying to play"? It used to mean "well, you just don't get the creme of the crop, but at least you can sleep at night", now, in some cases, you're seeing the ire of the DOJ, executive regulatory agencies via administrative rulings, etc being turned on those. If you weren't on the "donor" list and you're a law firm or a large company, you aren't just "not getting the invite to that round of golf where the deal is done", you're actively getting hunted down or held over a barrel.

This isn't even access anymore, man, it's protection money. It's nearly legalized racketeering.

So, sure, "your point stands"...perhaps back in 1990...
 
DotCom2 said:
Very well stated!
Sounds of 1940's and Hitler all over again.
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Well…maybe the run-up to the 1940's..like 1920's and 1930's.When there still was a choice in turbulent years.
Although situation in Germany was ofcourse completely different from the current situation in the USA.
 
raylo32 said:
Few of us here would call $1000 smart phones cheap or even reasonable. Doubling their costs via tariffs or by rehoming production would price many people out totally. And it isn't just about "cheap consumer goods". Many imported products go to businesses, to include manufacturers, who sell their creations here and export internationally. The number of people engaged in this business dwarfs those employed in "manufacturing", so it is a fool's errand to just support manufacturing jobs in a vacuum of knowledge as to the overall effects of tariffs on the economy.
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I'm just not so sure. As I said, I'm not American, but the USA is letting other countries specialise in advanced mass manufacturing, various smartphone components - and smartphone processors. I'm just saying that this is not like exporting low skilled labour intensive manufacturing to other countries - this is a real loss for the USA (and for Europe, where I am).

Thought experiment - let's say (and let's hope they don't) China invades Taiwan. What then? Maybe the USA reacts. Maybe China decides to stop all exports to the USA for 3 months - maybe longer - as a consequence. Plus of course, the USA loses the advance fabs of TSMC.

I'm not an economist, but I suspect that you'd see more damage to the US economy than to China's.
 
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It just got really ugly... China suspended export of rare earths and such that are the heart of most modern tech. I don't see Trump and Xi ever having a meeting of the minds so there could be some very major impacts and very soon. I could see Trump invoking yet another "emergency" to ignore environmental considerations to increase domestic production.
 
johnsawyercjs said:
Most people believe Trump is the only one in his administration coming up with these tariff ideas, apparently since he's the only one who has the power to impose them. More coverage needs to be done on whether Trump is really the one who's been coming up with these "creative" international trade policies, and what the real goals are.
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He’s been talking about it for decades. All him and the people he purposely surrounds himself with (Yes men).
 
From my point of view, Apple (starting with Tim) concentrated way too much on the Chinese market for both manufacturing and sales. At the same time, Apple overemphasized the iPhone as the motherload for immediate profit to the abandonment of innovation in other technologies. Hence the quandary, vulnerability, and mess Apple has found itself in every time Trump has a fit about China.
 
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Richard8655 said:
From my point of view, Apple (starting with Tim) concentrated way too much on the Chinese market for both manufacturing and sales. At the same time, Apple overemphasized the iPhone as the motherload for immediate profit to the abandonment of innovation in other technologies. Hence the quandary, vulnerability, and mess Apple has found itself in every time Trump has a fit about China.
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Did they? It seems they worked themselves out of it rather quickly. Perhaps they prepared for it.
 
TgeekB said:
Did they? It seems they worked themselves out of it rather quickly. Perhaps they prepared for it.
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Yes, they did. But for how long? And there's still 20% tariff on them even after the exemption according to his latest post (though not necessarily related to China).
 
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Expos of 1969 said:
Very well stated and sadly, 100% accurate.
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I did not even mention billion of dollars worth of internationally highly regarded science and scientific research. More and more websites of reputable institutes are getting closed partly or completely by this US government. There is a list of all subjects or even words (like “black”, “environment”, “race”, “climate change”, “gender” etc.), that are being prohibited and erased right now. Even universities and institutes in Western Europe get lists of questionnaires about their research subjects.
Scientific research centers are busy trying to copy all research results done in the USA, so that not everything gets lost forever.
Science denial and replacing it with nonsense. Very effective for misleading average American citizens.
 
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Richard8655 said:
Yes, they did. But for how long? And there's still 20% tariff on them even after the exemption according to his latest post (though not necessarily related to China).
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Apple, under Tim Cook, has a long history of surviving tumultuous times. It’s about being prepared for any situation that may arise. It’s actually what he’s best at and why Apple is so successful. Don’t Panic!
 
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TgeekB said:
Apple, under Tim Cook, has a long history of surviving tumultuous times. It’s about being prepared for any situation that may arise. It’s actually what he’s best at and why Apple is so successful. Don’t Panic!
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Good point. He's been successful, but in my opinion not necessarily with the best strategy. Not panicking here as my Apple purchases are infrequent and always the base (cheapest) models of everything.
 
ThomasJL said:
After Steve Jobs passed away, Tim Cook raised prices on most Apple products in the U.S. by around 25%, which although is not a tarrif, is tarrif-like pricing.

Cook is an MBA degree-holding corporate scumbag who tries to fleece his customers as much as he can get away with in order to maximize profits.
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Reality isn't simply conjured up with baseless assertions. These things are knowable.

1744581737207.png


It was Jobs who was pushing margins up through the roof. Within 6mos of his death, Cook had brought them back under control and kept them far more stable over the next decade than Jobs ever did. Margins began growing again with the rise of Apple's services business, which is a much higher margin business than hardware manufacturing.

I don't see any signs of a Cook "tariff". Profits have grown under Cook because sales have grown, not because of some baseless price increase. Sales have grown because, despite what so many people here seem to want to believe, more people have wanted more Apple products. And the products people seem to want, much to the disappointment of my iPhone Mini loving self, are the high end ones.
 
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Analog Kid said:
Reality isn't simply conjured up with baseless assertions. These things are knowable.

View attachment 2501833

It was Jobs who was pushing margins up through the roof. Within 6mos of his death, Cook had brought them back under control and kept them far more stable over the next decade than Jobs ever did. Margins began growing again with the rise of Apple's services business, which is a much higher margin business than hardware manufacturing.

I don't see any signs of a Cook "tariff". Profits have grown under Cook because sales have grown, not because of some baseless price increase. Sales have grown because, despite what so many people here seem to want to believe, more people have wanted more Apple products. And the products people seem to want, much to the disappointment of my iPhone Mini loving self, are the high end ones.
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Well sure the data looks good, but what if you just don't like Cook and want to randomly assign blame to him.
 
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