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Trump: Apple Building in China is 'Unsustainable,' Could Exempt Some Companies From Tariffs

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Following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pause some of the exorbitant tariffs that he put in place earlier today, he spoke to the press at the White House and provided some commentary that could be a positive for Apple.

iphone-16-teal.jpg

When asked whether he would consider exempting some U.S. companies from the tariffs in the future, Trump said that he would. "As time goes by, we're going to take a look at it," he said. "There are some that by the nature of the company get hit a little bit harder, and we'll take a look at that," he added, claiming that he will "show a little flexibility."

During Trump's first term, Apple CEO Tim Cook was able to persuade Trump to exempt Apple devices from the tariffs that Trump put in place, but Cook has not been successful this time around. Trump has not yet agreed to grant any companies a reprieve from the tariffs yet.

Trump announced the unexpectedly high tariffs last Wednesday, sending the stock market spiraling downward and causing Apple shares to drop close to 20 percent. Losses continued until today when the temporary pause was announced, and the market closed with Apple stock back at almost $200 a share after opening at $172.

Trump announced a 90-day pause on all of the special "reciprocal" tariffs that were in place, such as the 46 percent tariff on Vietnam and the 32 percent tariff on Taiwan. The 90-day pause does not apply to goods from China, and there is a 10 percent base tariff in place while the higher tariffs are on hold. Trump raised tariffs on China to 125 percent, effective immediately, and said that he put the other tariffs on hold because "people were getting a little queasy."

When speaking to the press, Trump reiterated his aim of bringing manufacturing to the United States, and he claimed that Apple "building" in China is unsustainable.
If you look at Apple, Apple is going to spend $500 billion building a plant. They wouldn't be doing that if I didn't do this. They'd just keep building them in China. And that's unsustainable.
Click to expand...
While Apple is indeed investing in the United States to build Apple Intelligence servers at a facility in Houston, Texas, the bulk of device manufacturing will remain overseas. It is not possible for Apple to move its incredibly complex supply chain to the U.S., due to costs and a lack of workers skilled in advanced manufacturing.

Apple will need to pay a 125 percent tariff on all goods coming to the United States from China, but it can import devices from other countries like India, Taiwan, and Vietnam at the lower 10 percent rate.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Trump: Apple Building in China is 'Unsustainable,' Could Exempt Some Companies From Tariffs
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/04/09/trump-apple-china-tariff-comments/
TechRunner said:
I'm no supply chain expert, but it seems to me that building and ramping up a factory to full production isn't an overnight thing. I'm not sure how companies are supposed to pivot so quickly from offshore manufacturing.
Click to expand...
Exactly. If this was anything sensible it would be a case of giving something like 2yrs notice. You can either plan and relocate production within the US, else face taxes (as esentially that is what they are) on imports.

Right now we are either seeing corruption, or incompetance.
 
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Just pull the same trick as Starbucks does with coffee beans. Set up a shell importer/exporter in Ireland to launder products. In Starbucks case, they do it to avoid US corporate taxes. They buy cheap beans on the world market through the Irish Starbucks subsidiary. Sell at huge markups to US Starbucks. Profits taken in Ireland aren't taxed at the higher US rates.

Apple could easily sell phones to a Vietnam subsidiary. Let the Vietnam subsidiary sell them to Apple Inc in the US. The 125% tariff gets replaced with a 10% tariff on goods imported from Vietnam and maybe another percent or two to pay for transit through Vietnam.

Honestly, if Cook doesn't have an analysis of all such options on his desk already, I would be shocked at the incompetence.
 
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Apple should do whatever helps them best make a profit (they are actually obligated to do just that by being a publicly traded company). The US should not force them to make less profit. Instead, if the US wants more production in the US they should offer incentives that make it MORE profitable to produce in the US. Examples could include tax breaks, cheap land, extra education options for skilled workers if they build in the US.
 
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MacRumors said:
When speaking to the press, Trump reiterated his aim of bringing manufacturing to the United States, and he claimed that Apple "building" in China is unsustainable.

"If you look at Apple, Apple is going to spend $500 billion building a plant. They wouldn't be doing that if I didn't do this. They'd just keep building them in China. And that's unsustainable."
Click to expand...
And I think Apple recognized that years ago and have shifted manufacturing to Vietnam, India etc ...
And then there is the "$500B investment in the US" ...

It'll be interesting to see where all of this is going
 
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When asked whether he would consider exempting some U.S. companies from the tariffs in the future, Trump said that he would. "As time goes by, we're going to take a look at it," he said. "There are some that by the nature of the company get hit a little bit harder, and we'll take a look at that," he added, claiming that he will "show a little flexibility."
Click to expand...
If Trump gives Apple tariff exemptions, then why would Apple (or any company) bring manufacturing back to the U.S.? Exemptions take away the incentive to do so.
 
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sw1tcher said:
If Trump gives Apple tariff exemptions, then why would Apple (or any company) bring manufacturing back to the U.S.? Exemptions take away the incentive to do so.
Click to expand...
But if Apple is forced to make LESS profit by complying just to increase US jobs that isn't capitalism. It's something close to socialism. Whatever is done must be structured so that Apple makes no less profit than it would have.
 
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MacRumors said:


Following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pause some of the exorbitant tariffs that he put in place earlier today, he spoke to the press at the White House and provided some commentary that could be a positive for Apple.

iphone-16-teal.jpg

When asked whether he would consider exempting some U.S. companies from the tariffs in the future, Trump said that he would. "As time goes by, we're going to take a look at it," he said. "There are some that by the nature of the company get hit a little bit harder, and we'll take a look at that," he added, claiming that he will "show a little flexibility."

During Trump's first term, Apple CEO Tim Cook was able to persuade Trump to exempt Apple devices from the tariffs that Trump put in place, but Cook has not been successful this time around. Trump has not yet agreed to grant any companies a reprieve from the tariffs yet.

Trump announced the unexpectedly high tariffs last Wednesday, sending the stock market spiraling downward and causing Apple shares to drop close to 20 percent. Losses continued until today when the temporary pause was announced, and the market closed with Apple stock back at almost $200 a share after opening at $172.

Trump announced a 90-day pause on all of the special "reciprocal" tariffs that were in place, such as the 46 percent tariff on Vietnam and the 32 percent tariff on Taiwan. The 90-day pause does not apply to goods from China, and there is a 10 percent base tariff in place while the higher tariffs are on hold. Trump raised tariffs on China to 125 percent, effective immediately, and said that he put the other tariffs on hold because "people were getting a little queasy."

When speaking to the press, Trump reiterated his aim of bringing manufacturing to the United States, and he claimed that Apple "building" in China is unsustainable.

While Apple is indeed investing in the United States to build Apple Intelligence servers at a facility in Houston, Texas, the bulk of device manufacturing will remain overseas. It is not possible for Apple to move its incredibly complex supply chain to the U.S., due to costs and a lack of workers skilled in advanced manufacturing.

Apple will need to pay a 125 percent tariff on all goods coming to the United States from China, but it can import devices from other countries like India, Taiwan, and Vietnam at the lower 10 percent rate.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Trump: Apple Building in China is 'Unsustainable,' Could Exempt Some Companies From Tariffs
Click to expand...
Trump is trying to crash the stock market at least 20%, causing a flight into treasuries, this will cause the fed to slash interest rates so he can refinance the debt to near 0% and cause a deflationary spiral which will lower the cost of everything

He also intends to use tariffs as an incentive for companies to build in the US to avoid having to pay them. The Tariffs and the resulting global trade war will also force American Farmers to sell more of their goods in the US (due to retaliatory trade measures by other countries) which will directly lower the price of groceries in the US.

More than 94% of all stock is owned by just 8% of the US population. Trump is literally taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor.

This is why Trump is playing a game of Hokey Pokey with Tariffs. One day he has 25% Tariffs on Mexico and the next he doesn't. This is to cause extreme volatility in the markets and a desperate need and demand to flee towards treasury bonds which are much more stable but offer much lower potential return.

This is also why eggs are cheaper now than they were under Joe Biden. Amazingly it looks like it's working. The mainstream media and so called "experts' are looking like fools right now. This all happened in 5 days.
 
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vantelimus said:
Just pull the same trick as Starbucks does with coffee beans. Set up a shell importer/exporter in Ireland to launder products. In Starbucks case, they do it to avoid US corporate taxes. They buy cheap beans on the world market through the Irish Starbucks subsidiary. Sell at huge markups to US Starbucks. Profits taken in Ireland aren't taxed at the higher US rates.

Apple could easily sell phones to a Vietnam subsidiary. Let the Vietnam subsidiary sell them to Apple Inc in the US. The 125% tariff gets replaced with a 10% tariff on goods imported from Vietnam and maybe another percent or two to pay for transit through Vietnam.

Honestly, if Cook doesn't have an analysis of all such options on his desk already, I would be shocked at the incompetence.
Click to expand...
Origin matters for import. Just transferring stuff through foreign subsidiaries doesn't cut it - not for tariffs, not for import duties.
 
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CarpalMac said:
Exactly. If this was anything sensible it would be a case of giving something like 2yrs notice. You can either plan and relocate production within the US, else face taxes (as esentially that is what they are) on imports.

Right now we are either seeing corruption, or incompetance.
Click to expand...
Two years? After feasibility and location planning, architectural plans, planning permission, you'd be lucky to get a spade in the ground in two years, let alone get the thing built, kitted out with equipment, and personnel hired. This is why the whole thing is totally bonkers - even if labour costs in the US were equivalent to those in China, by the time you'd got your new factory running there'd have been another presidential election and who knows what would have happened to those tariffs.

If this is genuinely about making US companies build more in the US, Trump's current strategy simply doesn't work on a 4-year presidential cycle. Maybe he's serious about not leaving... :)
 
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jz0309 said:
And I think Apple recognized that years ago and have shifted manufacturing to Vietnam, India etc ...
And then there is the "$500B investment in the US" ...

It'll be interesting to see where all of this is going
Click to expand...
We've seen it already. Stocks crashed. Trump tweets good time to buy stocks. Then pumps the market with this pause. Guess who was primed before he tweeted?
 
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Engaging in conflict with China will not prove beneficial today or in the foreseeable future. Trump was absent from office for four years, during which time Biden pursued a costly campaign, expending billions of dollars without due consideration for long-term consequences. Meanwhile, China capitalised on the lessons derived from the previous trade war, which occurred four to eight years prior. The absence of genuine understanding of other nations and their perspectives will present a significant challenge for Trump to surmount. Given the number of arrogant individuals within his cabinet, little progress is likely to be achieved.
 
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