Apple Avoids iPhone Tariffs as U.S. and China Reach Trade Deal

Apple won't be hit with hefty tariffs on the iPhone, iPad, and MacBooks as U.S. President Donald Trump this afternoon signed off on a trade deal with China.

Speaking in a note to investors shared by Bloomberg, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said that the new tariffs could have added approximately $150 to the price of iPhones during the holiday season.

iphone11pinwheel

"Trump delivered an early Christmas present to Apple. If this tariff went through it would have been a major gut punch for semi players/Apple and could have thrown a major wrench into the supply chain and demand for the holiday season."

If Apple absorbed the cost of the tariffs, the company's earnings per share would have shrunk by approximately four percent, according to Ives. Raising prices could have caused ‌iPhone‌ demand to shrink by an estimated six to eight percent in 2020.

Apple is paying tariffs on the Apple Watch, AirPods, iMac components, and HomePod speaker, which could potentially be eliminated now that a deal has been reached. Apple in November also applied for tariff waivers on these items.

The tariffs that were avoided today were originally set to be put in place in August, but were delayed until December 15 to give the U.S. and China more time to reach an agreement.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been speaking with Trump about the tariffs, and in August reportedly made a "good case" arguing that tariffs would put Apple at a disadvantage with rivals like Samsung. Apple earlier this year also sent a letter urging the Trump administration not to proceed with the tariffs.

Cook in late October said that he was confident the United States and China would resolve the trade dispute. "I don't know every chapter of the book, but I think that will eventually happen," said Cook.

Note: Due to the political 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.

Top Rated Comments

jarman92 Avatar
56 months ago
Does MacRumors know something nobody else does? There is no "trade deal"...the US and China agreed on an outline to a potential deal that resolves some trade disputes. This has also happened like 6 times before, and it was just Trump bloviating as usual.


I love this president.

He’s basically renegotiated trade deals with China, Canada, Mexico, Japan, EU, and UK. No wonder the economy is soaring.

All the people saying that Tariffs were wrong, and yet China finally caved. Lmao.

Best part as it has had zero effect of the consumer
Did you actually educate yourself on this story, or do you just respond to everything by verbally fellating Trump? Nobody said anything about China caving...for all we know, Trump caved. There aren't many details about the terms of the potential deal.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A MacBook lover Avatar
56 months ago

Well put, sir.
With regards to @Amacfa making the ludicrous chest-thumping Trump drunk statement that China “caved”...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-is-getting-played-by-china-on-trade/2019/12/12/a8381362-1d2d-11ea-b4c1-fd0d91b60d9e_story.html?outputType=amp

Someone over at The Post sure seems to have a differing opinion! ;0)

TLDR;
FROM LINKED ARTICLE:
“On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported the Trump team caved on that huge point...”

Poster had story exactly backwards!
As if you expect the Amazon owned Washington post to be impartial. post has put out dozens of false stories before.

Trump is a master deal maker. He’s produced results for this economy and keeps his promises. More jobs, record stocks, record unemployment, renegotiated trade deals. Even Pelosi called trumps USMCA unquestionably better than NAFTA. You can’t beat him, honestly.

Even Tim is smart enough to see past the anti-trump hate. I’m sure he’s tired of China trying to steal intellectual property - which is a huge part of the trade deal with China.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A MacBook lover Avatar
56 months ago
I love this president.

He’s basically renegotiated trade deals with China, Canada, Mexico, Japan, EU, and UK. No wonder the economy is soaring.

All the people saying that Tariffs were wrong, and yet China finally caved. Lmao.

Best part as it has had zero effect of the consumer
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NickName99 Avatar
56 months ago
Trump got us into this tariff mess, I’m curious to see if we ultimately end up in a better or worse position for it.

I feel especially bad for all the US farmers who have lost relationships with Chinese buyers over the tariffs.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mannyvel Avatar
56 months ago
China has been reaping the benefits of open markets without opening its markets up as much. That's been the goal of this trade round. Previous politicians were afraid of upsetting China due to an unrealistic view of China's actual power.

Trump probably burned 1-2%/year of GDP growth for this deal, but it should be worth it in the long run. Good timing, since you want to start a trade war when you're doing well. Nobody notices growth that doesn't happen.

Trump may be a dick, but he's our dick.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tridley68 Avatar
56 months ago
Thank you Mr President Donald Trump ??????
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...