Tim Cook Explains How Tariffs Are Impacting Apple's Business

[DownUnderDan]

Tariffs are just a means to get better trade deals negotiated. Don't expect them to last long term as most countries will be smart enough to do some kind of deal like buying more oil & LNG from the US to fix trade imbalances.

Well as an Australian I can only say I hope you keep thinking that for at least a little longer. We've scored two big contracts for our farmers since you left reality in the states and you have trilliions of dollars of lost forward defence sales to look forward to from Europe. We here are paying ten percent tariffs to compensate for a free trade agreement, your lot thought up and got us to sign. Presently the US has a trade deficit with Australia, so using Trumps logic on tariffs the US government owes Australia 2.19 billion USD as of January 2025. Look forward to your President sending the cheque.

 

[AustinIllini]

Cheetohead strikes again!

 

[artifex]

Wonder which major retailer will be the first to add a "tariff surcharge" line to the bill? Apple isn't a good candidate for this, because people already perceive it as a premium brand, and I think many feel it is one of the companies that could eat the extra costs.

Punchbowl News reported that Amazon was going to display the tariff fees on their low-cost Haul site, but after that was reported, the WH press secretary angrily (and inaccurately, it turns out) denounced them, and Jeff Bezos, from the podium. So that might have scared some retailers away from calling shoppers' attention to how much the tariffs will cost them on each item.

But someone will do it. I would guess an overseas-based discount retailer, maybe Temu or someone, would be the first.

I fully expect car dealerships to at least give an estimate, based on all of the assemblies that cross the border multiple times.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

Glad we are up to date. Not buying anything for a very long time from Apple.

I bought and renewed AppleCare on nearly all of my stuff.

 

[BGPL]

The whole idea is to bring jobs and manufacturing to the US. Yes, it's gonna hurt, that's the idea. Tim makes a solid pitch to the weak minded. I commend Trump for taking hard steps to fix the deficit, steps that no one else was willing to take. No other republican or democrat, ever.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Yet you gave him $1 million Tim.

He paid $1 million to have conversational access to educate the man.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

The whole idea is to bring jobs and manufacturing to the US. Yes, it's gonna hurt, that's the idea. Tim makes a solid pitch to the weak minded. I commend Trump for taking hard steps to fix the deficit, steps that no one else was willing to take. No other republican or democrat, ever.

You are deluded. It would take decades for that to happen.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

The whole idea is to bring jobs and manufacturing to the US. Yes, it's gonna hurt, that's the idea. Tim makes a solid pitch to the weak minded. I commend Trump for taking hard steps to fix the deficit, steps that no one else was willing to take. No other republican or democrat, ever.

My main critique is, okay he's levied the tariffs - now do away with the federal income tax. He's obviously playin to try and get the other countries to the negotiation table, but if he just half goes through with this, then it's a bad deal for Americans for however long this takes.

He needs to be held very accountable on the axing the income taxes thing imo. This is a once in a generation opportunity to reorganize this system that has grown out of control ever since it was implemented in the 1910s.

 

[Piggie]

Terrible news.
I mean, just think of a possible future.
Without the MASSIVE past income, Apple won't be able to continually create and release a wide range of brand new products, and will instead only be able to offer tiny incremental improvements, years after year after year on very old and long existing products, and then have to run marketing campaigns to try and persuade consumers they need to buy the latest model
They may even be forced to fit things like not enough memory or not enough storage into the affordable models so people will be pushed to buy a more expensive model that actually functions how it should do without issues and drawbacks

 

[WilliApple]

Trump must be mad that Apple is moving to India, not America...

 

[fredrik9]

Tariffs are just a means to get better trade deals negotiated. Don't expect them to last long term as most countries will be smart enough to do some kind of deal like buying more oil & LNG from the US to fix trade imbalances.

Some countries simply can’t buy from the US because they have no money.

 

[fredrik9]

Trump is expecting every country to kneel to him, but that won't happen. Every country will begin planning deals with other countries to not depend as much or nothing at all on the US.

This is having the exact opposite result than what Trump wants, while Americans and the rest of the world is paying the consequences of a lunatic.

It has already happened.

 

[RedWeasel]

The world has called his bluff and moved on.

Your understanding of trade imbalances is wrong. You have a trade imbalance with Apple because you buy from them and they don’t buy from you. So let’s have you pay an extra tax every time you buy from Apple. Are you winning yet?

Also, people in the US have to be aware that "Made in the USA" is not necessarily perceived as a seal of quality in many parts of the world.

We don't buy US cars because we consider them overpriced and lower quality, compared to others. Tariffs won't help with that.

 

[oldoneeye]

It's strange, I worked with large external manufacturers in many locations across the world including Foxconn in China and America. The Chinese facilities were some of the best and the American some of the worst. I don't think this a reflection of the people per se, but perhaps the motivation of the staff ? The Chinese engineers were keen,attentive and saw their job as important. The Americans seemed to see it as a stepping stone to something better.

Huge generalisations here I know, but perhaps we in the West need to stop talking about making things as something a little dirty and trivial, while idolising the cash made in Wall Street

 

[hans1972]

I commend Trump for taking hard steps to fix the deficit, steps that no one else was willing to take. No other republican or democrat, ever.

Under Clinton the budget was in surplus for a few years and the deficit was cut.

I don't believe the Trump-administration will be able to balance the budget at all when they also wants tax cuts to continue.

 

[attila]

The whole idea is to bring jobs and manufacturing to the US. Yes, it's gonna hurt, that's the idea. Tim makes a solid pitch to the weak minded. I commend Trump for taking hard steps to fix the deficit, steps that no one else was willing to take. No other republican or democrat, ever.

Gee, I wonder why... 🤔

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

The whole idea is to bring jobs and manufacturing to the US. Yes, it's gonna hurt, that's the idea. Tim makes a solid pitch to the weak minded. I commend Trump for taking hard steps to fix the deficit, steps that no one else was willing to take. No other republican or democrat, ever.

Not going to happen. It's a fairy tale that's been read to you over and over at every Trump rally and on the right-wing media and now you believe it's reality.

You don't get an obese person to lose weight by taking away ALL food -- the person, instead, dies. Would you not agree there are other ways to accomplish the goal than to starve the person to death?

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Trump must be mad that Apple is moving to India, not America...

Not to worry...the WH just got their order (from China) of new boxes of Executive Orders and cheap (from China) black markers to sign them (along with their latest order of MAGA merch from China)...Der Leader can just sign an EO to put 145% tariffs on India. It's like a game of Whack-a-Mole!

In the meantime, our Congress sits with their thumbs up their you-know-what doing absolutely nothing. I wonder how much money DOGE could save by getting rid of the Legislative branch?

 

[Warped9]

Yet you gave him $1 million Tim.

Small price to make america great again, again, right Tim Apple?🤣

Minimal cost of doing business in Trump’s America.

Tariffs are just a means to get better trade deals negotiated. Don't expect them to last long term as most countries will be smart enough to do some kind of deal like buying more oil & LNG from the US to fix trade imbalances.

Completely wrong. The evidence is already in. Trump gambled big and the U.S. is losing. It underlines Trump understands nothing about anything.

 

[jicon]

Might want to put a little extra line on revenue or expense charts highlighting tariff cost, though presuming a press secretary might consider that a hostile political attack.

I can't see the tariffs lasting on Apple's or other's business. The next six months will likely start getting pretty expensive for most items on a shelf, including price rises for Apple devices. I also question whether the chief will be running the show in a year.

Biden likely struggled cognitively the last few years, and not pretty to see. But I think in a span of a few weeks, I've seen the 'new' guy:

Refer to Tesla as Tesler repeatedly.
Highlight kids maybe not having 30 dolls anymore, but two that cost a bit more - did he mean to say three?
Tell Stephen A Smith asking about Harvard started talking about Harlem, likely received a note he had the wrong term, and did the most awkward pivot.

Maybe if I'm 78 and that's the type of flubs I'm making at that age I'd figure that's alright, but there's no doubt some trouble.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

My main critique is, okay he's levied the tariffs - now do away with the federal income tax. He's obviously playin to try and get the other countries to the negotiation table, but if he just half goes through with this, then it's a bad deal for Americans for however long this takes.

He needs to be held very accountable on the axing the income taxes thing imo. This is a once in a generation opportunity to reorganize this system that has grown out of control ever since it was implemented in the 1910s.

The problem with this idea is its logical conclusion. IF tariffs work as planned, and people buy and produce more in the U.S., but we also "do away with the federal income tax," then suddenly the federal government runs out of money.

I know this has long been the Libertarian dream, shrink the federal government until it's dead, but we have things like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Defense Department, TSA, highways, Veterans' benefits, national parks, a variety of payments to states, etc. If tariffs were to work the way he's promised, and taxes go away too, then this country's lights go out.

 

[beerseagulls]

it just occurred to me that maybe the 145% tariff on iPhone accessories from China will cause many more iPhones to be naked this year? (finally)

 

[MRMSFC]

Tim, you didn’t think because you donated to the inauguration fund you would be spared, would you?

Everyone should remember Winston Churchill’s famous quote “an appeaser is someone who feeds an alligator, hoping it will eat him last”

 

[john123]

The whole idea is to bring jobs and manufacturing to the US. Yes, it's gonna hurt, that's the idea. Tim makes a solid pitch to the weak minded. I commend Trump for taking hard steps to fix the deficit, steps that no one else was willing to take. No other republican or democrat, ever.

Hmmm yes. Doing things that the people with actual understanding of economics haven’t done, regardless of ideology. And it’s pretty tough to get Dems and Reps to agree on economic policy.

This isn’t courage or strength. It’s stupidity and lunacy.

 

[MacMikePro]

So he's saying we will never see Made in America.

Judging by the fact that that would be physically impossible...I'd say he doesn't have to