Trump Demands US iPhone Production, Threatens 25% Tariff

[DrRadon]

No one here wants to sit on line in a factory putting together phones. It's boring, repetitive work.

If you believe there is no production line work in the us I can’t help you. It’s like saying you have to order at Ali express because nobody wants to be in a local Amazon warehouse.

I had my experience building Mercedes Benz here in Germany, shipping out to all over the world. The work was mundane, but based on the price of the product and unions being strong even as a student job it got payed well above average.

 

[sesnir]

Quick Tim, give him a plane or a gold plated golf cart or a McDonalds food truck

Or sue him now. He does not have the power to put this tariff into existence. That power belongs to congress

 

[djc6]

The production costs will rise by more than 25% if they move to the US. So they’re not going to do it.

Then he'll just keep changing the goal posts making it higher and higher like he has other tarrifs.

 

[kemal]

Not to mention that there is nowhere in the US where the size of workforce is available.

 

[gank41]

Then he'll just keep changing the goal posts making it higher and higher like he has other tarrifs.

That's the thing. Tim Cook could basically just wait a few days and say "Oh, I didn't look at my phone" and by then everything will have changed 3-4 times.

 

[Godspeed8230]

And the stockmarket is plunging yet again. Awesome!

 

[WarmWinterHat]

If you believe there is no production line work in the us I can’t help you. It’s like saying you have to order at Ali express because nobody wants to be in a local Amazon warehouse.

I had my experience building Mercedes Benz here in Germany, shipping out to all over the world. The work was mundane, but based on the price of the product and unions being strong even as a student job it got payed well above average.

I know there is line work here in the US, and I'm saying it's boring and repetitive. We don't need more of it. I have several family members who work for Ford on the lines...if it wasn't for pay that rivals my healthcare salary, they wouldn't be doing it.

Trump is very, very anti-union, as are most US companies. It wouldn't pay well.

 

[Kurwenal]

I wish Trump would do something actually useful, like deport Siri.

 

[spartan1967]

Be cheaper to pay the 25% tax than to build it in the USA.

Minus how much of that 25% tax will be passed on to iPhone purchasers, which many people will gladly pay.

 

[lkrupp]

Does he expect Apple to build a production line overnight? I guess Apple will announce they'll build a production facility in the US, spend 1-1.5 years planning it, drag it on, until he's gone.

That’s actually not a bad idea since Trump is all about the show, not the results. Apple announces their plans, Trump removes the tariff threat and claims victory over Cook. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[Andres Cantu]

As much as I don't agree with this move, the writing was on the wall.

Apple can absorb those tariffs without raising prices, if they REALLY wanted to. Their profit margins are insane. But of course, investors come first.

Seems like the days of lower iPhone demand might be coming very soon. Either way, not looking good for investors.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Samsung/Google/LG would have the tariffs if they did not shift to the US. Apple would have to eat at least some of the expense either way. Why are we employing overseas slave labor?

Did Trump specify that those companies also would? His social media post singled out Apple.

In any case, if all are affected, they just pay the tariffs, raise prices, and keep doing what they are doing. Consumers get the joy of high inflation again.

Apple is using a supply chain with people who are literally enslaved?

 

[smirking]

Or sue him now. He does not have the power to put this tariff into existence.

He actually does because the Republican party is lockstep with him and used procedural gimmicks to declare the rest of the year to be one Congressional day, which means nobody can overrule the stupid tariffs until that period passes.

 

[TracerAnalog]

Everybody's a CEO these days. Sure. Insist on Apple wasting billions of dollars on producing tech in the USA. Any idea what it will do to the consumer prices of tech? And by the way, you'd need to force Google, Samsung, Intel, HP and others to produce everything in the USA or the competition will wipe out Apple. That means: TV's, kitchen appliances, computers, etc etc. You think there are enough people to work in those factories? Or that all these huge factories just pop up in a month? The current prices are due to economy of scale coupled with lower living standards in overseas countries. Creating a separate USA market will increase costs tremendously and prices will skyrocket. You think such an epic shift can happen within 5 years? Keep dreaming.

 

[lkrupp]

Trump has completely lost it.

I don't think Tim should worry too much.

It would be a miracle if Trump is still alive and in power in 6 months.

Yeah, but then we'd have JD to live with.

 

[ender78]

Should have already been transitioning production to the US. Nobody made them do it. Now's the time. Twenty years is long enough.

Every item in your signature is Made in China. Why are you so unpatriotic that you do not buy US manufactured electronics? Oh wait, because there is no capacity in the US to do that. May have something to do with the fact that Americans dont like that type of work.

 

[wanha]

one who capitulates to a bully will eventually come to learn that the bull will just keep bullying them, because you've proven that you're easily bullied.

This is the path Tim Cook - like Colombia university - chose and now he needs to navigate that path.

Diplomacy only works with honest, reasonable people. With others, you need leverage and a demonstrated willingness to use it.

 

[TopToffee]

It doesn’t surprise me that so many people voted for Pumpkin Spice Palpatine because he’s a horrific human being.

It surprises me that they did it when he’s quite clearly as dumb (or at least as ignorant) as a bag of rocks.

Hearing him speak on literally any topic except golf is like being back at school and hearing the kid who’s trying to do a book report after only reading the dust jacket.

 

[wanha]

Ludicrous logistics issues aside, why doesn't Trump lead by example and manufacture his crappy hats in the U.S.?

because people like him are completely immune to hypocrisy

 

[ender78]

3) Trumps term would be long over before factories could even be built and staffed

Trump's term will be over before you can get municipal approval to start building .

 

[Gengar]

Diaper Don wants to be a tyrant so badly. Kim Jong-un or Vladimir Putin, he is not. He's just stupid.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Ludicrous logistics issues aside, why doesn't Trump lead by example and manufacture his crappy hats in the U.S.?

Trump could also only have hotels and properties in the United States. Why build a resort overseas when they could be built here in the U.S. instead and provide jobs here in the U.S.? His company is partnering with overseas developers and foreign governments on resorts and hotels, each costing hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Why is he okay with all that overseas work and not Apple making iPhones overseas? (Rhetorical question - I know the answer).

 

[iMac The Knife]

You mean Apple should shift production to somewhere where costs are higher (let's ignore skill and quality for now) and do what? Apple's net profit margins are in the 20-30% range. Apple would have to raise prices by 50% or 100% or 200%. How would Apple compete with other computer, smartphone, and other companies? People are going to buy a $2000 or $3000 iPhone instead of a $1000 iPhone because it's Made in America?

Moving production completely to the United States would require decades of work, hundreds of billions of dollars, and huge price increases.

If this tariff happens, all Apple needs to do is list the product price, slap on a "25% Trump tax" (call it that -- Trump would threaten Apple, but Apple would absolutely win the ensuing court case), and sell at the higher prices. We just need every business to be that clear about the effects of tariffs in their pricing. If Trump wants to enact bold, beautiful tariffs, he should take full responsibility for them and accept them as his tax on importers and consumers. Obama got "Obamacare", Trump can own the "Trump tax" of tariffs.

I would gladly pay $2000 for an iPhone, if it were made in America.

 

[lkrupp]

It’s way more than the labor costs. The whole frickin supply chain is in China. They spent decades building it up.

Yep, there’s even a new book out called “How China Captured Apple” that explains it all. It has apparently hit a nerve because Apple is trashing it as inaccurate. I’ve got my copy ordered.

 

[smirking]

Hearing him speak on literally any topic except golf is like being back at school and hearing the kid who’s trying to do a book report after only reading the dust jacket.

This is a clear indication as any that you’ve never heard him speak about golf. 😝