15% Tariff Hitting AirPods, Apple Watch, HomePod and More in the U.S. This Sunday

[MacRumors]

Starting this Sunday, Apple's AirPods, Apple Watch, headphones, some iMacs, HomePod, and other products will be impacted by a 15 percent tariff as part of the United States' ongoing trade dispute with China, reports Bloomberg.

The tariffs were entered into the Federal Register today and will go into effect on 12:01 a.m. local time on Sunday in Washington, D.C. for products entering the U.S. or being pulled from warehouses for use in the United States.

Apple devices set to be impacted include the Apple Watch and Apple Watch bands, AirPods, HomePod, some Beats headphones, and some iMacs. Bloomberg says that repair parts for iPhones could also be affected, as could the NAND flash storage used in iPhones.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier in August that he believes Apple will absorb most of the U.S. tariff costs on its devices "in the mid-short term" rather than raising prices for consumers. Apple has been expanding its production facilities in countries like India and Vietnam, which, in the long term, will diversify manufacturing beyond China and alleviate tariff concerns.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently met with U.S. president Donald Trump at Trump's Bedminster golf club, where Cook reportedly made a "good case" that tariffs would put Apple at a disadvantage with rivals like Samsung. "I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I'm thinking about it," Trump told reporters.

Apple in June also sent a letter to the Trump Administration urging against the tariffs because it would reduce Apple's contributions to the United States economy and weigh on its global competitiveness. Trump could still elect to delay the tariffs or exempt Apple products ahead of when they are set to go into effect, but recent tweets suggest that may be unlikely to happen.

Apple accessories like power adapters, cables, and cases are already subjected to an import tax at the current time, separate from the tariff set to hit new Apple products on Sunday.

This tariff won't immediately affect the iPhone, one of Apple's most popular devices that's responsible for a large portion of its revenue, until December 15 as tariffs on electronics like smartphones and laptop computers have been delayed so as to not impact the holiday shopping season.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues 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: 15% Tariff Hitting AirPods, Apple Watch, HomePod and More in the U.S. This Sunday

 

[Z400Racer37]

Make America Great Again!!!!!!!!!!!!! .... By paying up for our nationalistic, protectionist bribe sucker....


"Actually, it benefits Americans to pay more for stuff. That gives us an opportunity to make that stuff here less efficiently, and still pay more for it, which you would know if you didn't hate America." - Sheep

 

[macduke]

Everyone: Apple products are expensive!
Trump: Hold my beer.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Trump voters, this is on YOU.

 

[JPack]

Don't worry, China is begging for a trade deal, right?

It'll happen sooner, or later, or maybe never. But in the meanwhile, hang on Americans!

 

[Hieveryone]

Well if only China would cooperate this wouldn't happen. No sarcasm.

 

[newtestleper]

Thanks, Obama.

 

[spazzcat]

Everyone: Apple products are expensive!
Trump: Hold my beer.

Just about everything is going up because of these tariffs. Was just talking my local bike shop, they are no longer selling kids bikes because they have gone up about $120 each. So, I a nice kids bike that would cost about $100, is $220 now.
[doublepost=1567202470][/doublepost]

Well if only China would cooperate this wouldn't happen.

I'm assuming you forgot the /s...

 

[GadgetBen]

I’ll happily start a service posting the goods from across the pond!

 

[tito2020]

President is doing a fantastic job

 

[Hieveryone]

Just about everything is going up because of these tariffs. Was just talking my local bike shop, they are no longer selling kids bikes because they have gone up about $120 each. So, I a nice kids bike that would cost about $100, is $220 now.
[doublepost=1567202470][/doublepost]

I'm assuming you forgot the /s...

No sarcasm. Why is China cheating us? They need to stop

 

[sw1tcher]

Bloomberg says that repair parts for iPhones could also be affected, as could the NAND flash storage used in iPhones.

Perfect excuse for Apple to increase price spread between iPhones of different storage capacities to improve their already fat margins.

 

[cardfan]

Hopefully he increases them later to at least 50 percent.

 

[sw1tcher]

No sarcasm. Why is China cheating us? They need to stop

When Apple enters into agreements with their suppliers that are more beneficial to Apple, people here are like "Well, if you don't like the terms, don't agree to them."

When China lays out the terms to companies who want to do business in China to take advantage of their low wages and loose environmental standards, people are like "China's being unfair. We need to force them to give more favorable terms."

 

[skippermonkey]

I can't wait for Chinese tariffs and a UK £ that's in the toilet to crush my dreams of buying a Mac Pro. Stupid world.

 

[pweicks]

Eh, Apple could handle a 50% tariff with the size of their margins.

No pity here, Apple. Eat up.

 

[JimmyHook]

So let’s punish other Americans instead of China... that’s a great strategy...

- Drumpf

 

[5105973]

Tariffs, no tariffs, whatever the case may be, my problem with understanding this president is that he is all over the place.

I don't know how our allies manage to make any sort of agreements with him when he changes his mind and contradicts himself constantly, all while alternately praising and berating their leaders. I don't know how this administration is able to formulate foreign policy.

Domestically, it's been a mixed bag.

It must be hard for Tim Cook to go into these meetings and be told there might be some exemptions for Apple and then have to check Twitter to see where Trump's mind is at for any given moment. What a way to have to do business.

I would love to see China brought to reckoning for their horrible trade practices and their unfettered theft of IP, to name but a couple of areas of concern. So it's kind of gratifying seeing a president get tough on China. But I don't know about Trump's approach. It's been a wild ride with this one. I don't know what to think.

 

[JimmyHook]

Eh, Apple could handle a 50% tariff with the size of their margins.

No pity here, Apple. Eat up.

That doesn’t hurt Apple... they will eventually pass it off to consumers. Thanks failure of a President

 

[Morris]

Charles Arthur has an interesting theory about why the beta release of iOS 13.1 coming before the release of iOS 13 is due to Trump’s threat of tariffs on phones.

iOS 13’s beta split is down to Trump’s threatened tariffs, not missed features

 

[sirozha]

Just about everything is going up because of these tariffs. Was just talking my local bike shop, they are no longer selling kids bikes because they have gone up about $120 each. So, I a nice kids bike that would cost about $100, is $220 now.
[doublepost=1567202470][/doublepost]

I'm assuming you forgot the /s...

Buy a used one as people do all over the world. Kids outgrow their bikes within a few years. On another note, a good bike can’t cost $100. That’s what the problem is to begin with. A bike that costs $100 is a piece of junk made by slave labor in China.

 

[Brien]

Hopefully he increases them later to at least 50 percent.

Would that not kill consumer spending?

 

[sirozha]

That doesn’t hurt Apple... they will eventually pass it off to consumers. Thanks failure of a President

This will hurt AAPL.

 

[Freida]

Maybe now the products in USA will cost the same as everywhere else. )))

 

[steve217]

Thank you to all Trump voters.

You’re welcome!