Kuo: Apple Can Reduce Impact of Trump's Massive Tariffs in Five Ways

[I7guy]

Because I've heard reason after reason, and lie after lie. It's because of fentanyl, it's because of border security, it's because of this or that.

..and in top of whatever the labeled reason are, a lot of what is being tariffed is on things we can't even produce in the US, like coffee and bananas? I will say it again, some things cannot and will never be able to produced in the US. We don't have some natural resources, and we don't have the climate.

I feel like I'm talking a wall. This is more than manufacturing. It's a blanket tariff on everything... what's tariffing bananas go to do?

The best outcome I can see from all this is we simply buy less stuff, in total, from local or foreign sources. We are too consumerism, and should really be buying less of what we want, and more of what we need.

What is happening is that the world will start routing around the US, and we will learn that the world doesn't need the US as much as the president thinks it does.

The US should go back to being an isolationist nation. But we won’t do that. As ****ed up as the nation can be sometimes due to self serving politicians the world needs us.

 

[I7guy]

Yes they will however Apple will increase the prices worldwide as a consequence

That is why I believe the iPhone 16E has an increased price of 180 on the previous model because it will be easier to bump up the prices

Or the price was bumped up due to higher prices on raw materials and new technology.

 

[artifex]

There’s another option though: Ask for an exemption from his ‘buddy’, which has happened in the past. The stock, as I’m writing this, is down -9%. In a single day 😳. Insanity.

I was planning to buy a M5 Max Mac Studio next year but it looks like I have to actually consider building a PC. In fact, I now have to reconsider all my Apple product spending and I’m guessing everyone else feels the same. If Apple raises prices, it might be over 🙅‍♂️

All the component parts are about to cost more, too. Even before this tariff mess, memory manufacturers have been deliberately cutting production because of perceived oversupply, and have recently been talking about also raising prices directly.
Things are about to get a lot more expensive n the used market, too, as people hang on to stuff longer while other people who normally buy new, try to save money.

 

[Green Valkyrie]

You guys better think that by 2030 you will have a referendum for your country to be renamed to United Khaliphate than telling your main NATO partner who to have as a President.

Oh btw, I can’t see next Apple or Microsoft on the horizon that is coming from the UK! How unfortunate that you still have to rely on “Murrica"🤦‍♂️

Ah, the "UK is becoming an Islamist state" drivel. Try visiting the place and you'll learn how ridiculous that stuff is.

The UK, just like every country in the world, is not without its problems, but it's absolutely nothing like the version that overgrown fratboys like Musk and Vance are trying to claim.

Anyway, back to the matter in hand. 34% tariffs back atcha from China. Enjoy!

 

[Green Valkyrie]

You can bookmark the post for posterity and we’ll see how right and wrong everyone gets to be as things roll along.

People get things wrong all the time. Remember y2k? You have to watch out for the appeal to authority argument.

If tariffs cause the US economy to boom, feel free to say as many "I told you so"s as you want.

Nobody knows the future for certain, but that's a pretty weak argument for tariffs. You can step out onto an 8 lane motorway and might not get killed, but I wouldn't advise it.

 

[Moonjumper]

Yes they will however Apple will increase the prices worldwide as a consequence

That is why I believe the iPhone 16E has an increased price of 180 on the previous model because it will be easier to bump up the prices

Why? Apple charges differing amounts in each country based on the cost of operating there. These tariffs only put up the cost of operating in USA.

 

[Moonjumper]

You can bookmark the post for posterity and we’ll see how right and wrong everyone gets to be as things roll along.

People get things wrong all the time. Remember y2k? You have to watch out for the appeal to authority argument.

y2k? Are you referring to the millenium bug? That was solved by noticing there was an issue, and people creating solutions before the problems manifested. Nobody was wrong. Nothing to do with an appeal to authority.

 

[Furman]

It is obvious that the Trump/Musk administration is at war with working class Americans. I sure wish Trumplicans would wake up to the fact that they voted in an amoral con man.

 

[Stuwil]

Why? Apple charges differing amounts in each country based on the cost of operating there. These tariffs only put up the cost of operating in USA.

As a consequence of these tariffs then Apple would have to put the iPhone up by 43% on every iPhone in America & that is not going to happen so it will get spread worldwide so it’s then not a massive increase in price

 

[DocMultimedia]

It is obvious that the Trump/Musk administration is at war with working class Americans. I sure wish Trumplicans would wake up to the fact that they voted in an amoral con man.

This! 👆

 

[Green Valkyrie]

It is obvious that the Trump/Musk administration is at war with working class Americans. I sure wish Trumplicans would wake up to the fact that they voted in an amoral con man.

Out of interest I just looked at Fox News and the fact that China has just slapped 34% tariffs on all US imports in direct response to their man Donald is relegated to story 5, below 4 pro-Trump pieces. I suppose if that's your main or only source of news you're going to think Trump is wonderful. Not going to be easy for them to spin this but I'll certainly enjoy watching them try.

 

[Stuwil]

Or the price was bumped up due to higher prices on raw materials and new technology.

If that’s what you believe then so be it
However this iPhone won’t be getting a price cut as the previous models at the bottom tier

 

[Warped9]

Almost off-topic but this makes me think of the fact that maybe we wouldn't be so upset with taxes if they didn't feel like just burning money.

What if that tax money was earmarked directly for investment into US manufacturing infrastructure and training?

What if social security taxes and healthcare taxes actually went into an individual account for that person's healthcare?

Seems like the tax system is the real problem.

That's not going to happen.

It is obvious that the Trump/Musk administration is at war with working class Americans. I sure wish Trumplicans would wake up to the fact that they voted in an amoral con man.

They're at war with anyone who isn't in their little club. That's more than just working class Americans.

 

[I7guy]

If that’s what you believe then so be it
However this iPhone won’t be getting a price cut as the previous models at the bottom tier

Sure, and you’re entitled to your opinion also. So be it. Your airtime t is Apple insisting the prices to make the consumer less prone to sticker shock. I don’t buy that.

 

[artifex]

Folks need to understand these are reciprocal tariffs. They're meant to freak the global market out, and countries will lower tariffs on US goods to compensate and get their tariffs lowered by the US. Israel already made theirs 0%. Trump will probably give special deals to Canada and Mexico if/when they do more about border security.

Yeah, no, some countries already pre-emptively dropped theirs and still got hit. He wants to be begged. And it was never legitimately about border security. Did you really, actually believe the Canadian tariffs were over fentanyl?

 

[artifex]

How does this affect consumers outside of the US?

Say I order an MBP and it’s shipped directly to my EU address from China, and my payment is handled via some complicated tax arrangement through Ireland or somesuch, do these tariffs come in to play at any point?

I really don’t understand all this trade stuff 😂

Ironically, China's in a better position to negotiate trade deals with the EU now. 'Hey, those people are screwing you, trade with us instead.' They're already taking advantage of the US abdicating its prior role in assisting during natural disasters. People remember who helped them dig out loved ones from rubble and fed them.

 

[artifex]

Perhaps. But arguably manufacturing has gone to the places where manufacturing is most efficient. Protectionism rarely helps manufacturing because it reduces competition, and therefore innovation. I am all for less Apple reliance on certain Asian countries with poor track records in human rights, but then again the US isn't exactly the gold standard for that ATM.

Perhaps it would have been better to require all manufacturers importing products into the US to have paid workers at least the equivalent of the US federal minimum wage and given workers basic rights...

These are laudable goals, but I do want to mention that even without tariffs people were starting to move some manufacturing out of China to other countries like India and Vietnam, because the standard of living started going up in China and people were expecting to get paid more to keep doing this work. Tariffs won't actually fix this except to make the US the cheapest place to manufacture for American consumption. In other countries, companies will be free to keep chasing the cheapest labor in the rest of the world. Which will very likely mean that they will end up paying less than we will for similar products.

 

[AppliedMicro]

You guys better think that by 2030 you will have a referendum for your country to be renamed to United Khaliphate than telling your main NATO partner who to have as a President.

He who believes he can tell other nations who to have as a president…
…shall not wonder or complain when the world* tells him that they don‘t like or want him.

👉 Did Greenlanders ask to become a territory and submit to your great leader?


* Side note: „the world“ being, on this occasion, merely random people on a consumer-electronics focused internet forum

 

[Stuwil]

China if you were technically buying one from the US for some reason. But that doesn't mean Apple won't raise the baseline price themselves to offset their own costs.

Exactly that is what they will do by spreading the increase worldwide it means it won’t go up to much in the USA

 

[Moonjumper]

As a consequence of these tariffs then Apple would have to put the iPhone up by 43% on every iPhone in America & that is not going to happen so it will get spread worldwide so it’s then not a massive increase in price

If that was the case, Apple should have put the prices up in USA previously so other countries were not paying more.

 

[Stuwil]

If that was the case, Apple should have put the prices up in USA previously so other countries were not paying more.

Apple will not put the iPhone up by 43% in the USA as a consequence of this
What they will do is increase the price worldwide of the iPhones by less than that value to offset the additional cost
That’s what they will do because if they raise the cost by for example 100 on top of every iPhone then it’s not as bad as putting the USA model up by say 250

 

[bheathain]

Except they are not reciprocal taxes. Take Australian for example. There is a free trade agreement with 0% import taxes, but 10% has been applied in these supposed reciprocal taxes, breaking the legal agreement. Other countries cannot lower import taxes when there are none, or make small changes when they are very low. Instead, expect other countries to raise their import taxes to match the ones applied by USA.

The calculations appear to be based on trade deficits, not the import fees of other countries. Trade deficits are because Americans are buying more goods from other countries than those countries are buying American goods. The prime example is cars. Almost nobody buys American cars because they are too big for the roads in most countries, they are much less efficient, and are seen as much lower quality.

Thanks for the clarification. I have been reading through those details this morning. Very interesting stuff how it's being calculated. A bit haphazard.

 

[Stuwil]

Sure, and you’re entitled to your opinion also. So be it. Your airtime t is Apple insisting the prices to make the consumer less prone to sticker shock. I don’t buy that.

What I said was you will probably find that iPhone 16E is priced at 599 so that come September then the prices will go up because that phone has went up 180 on the previous model

 

[AppliedMicro]

Exactly that is what they will do by spreading the increase worldwide it means it won’t go up to much in the USA

…with international buyers thereby subsidising U.S. iPhone buyers - and, by extension, Trump’s tariff policy.

Can’t wait for the European Union to conduct an investigation and slap retaliatory tariffs on them.

Maybe not on smartphones but digital services.
Either way, European buyers subsidising Trump’s non-reciprocal tariffs should not be tolerated.

 

[I7guy]

What I said was you will probably find that iPhone 16E is priced at 599 so that come September then the prices will go up because that phone has went up 180 on the previous model

If apple is continuing its strategy the base model will stay the same while the higher tiered models will see a price increase of $99.