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Apple Watch Now Excluded From U.S. Tariffs on Chinese Goods

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Apple in November asked the U.S. government to exclude the Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, and iPhone components from tariffs on goods imported from China, and the Apple Watch has been exempted.

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According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Trade Representative on Friday approved a tariff waiver for Apple's wrist worn device.

A 15 percent tariff on a long list of products imported from China went into effect on September 1, though it was halved on February 15 after an initial trade deal was established.

Apple said that the Apple Watch should be exempted because it is "it is not strategically important or related to 'Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs." Apple also claimed that it was not able to find a source outside of China to meet demand for Apple Watch production in 2020.

Apple has also filed for waivers for AirPods, ‌HomePod‌, iPhone components, and other products impacted by the tariffs.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in October said that he was hopeful the U.S. and China would resolve their trade issues. "I don't know every chapter of the book, but I think that will eventually happen," Cook said. "I certainly hope it happens during the quarter, but we'll see about that."

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.

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Top Rated Comments

JPack Avatar
JPack
82 months ago
Taking care of the important stuff.

Meanwhile, the 500 million N95 respirators on order are expected to take 18 months. Manufacturers in China aren’t able to fulfill the request due to face saving procurement requirements.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-19/trump-s-500-million-respirators-could-take-18-months-to-deliver
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
satchmo
82 months ago
The donation of 2 million masks probably didn't hurt Apple's case.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
citysnaps
82 months ago

Hopefully apple passes along these savings to the customers....lol
Nope. Apple has been absorbing the tariff hit on behalf of its customers. No need to pass anything on.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
citysnaps
82 months ago

They haven't absorbed anything. originally when the tariff was in place, they just charged customers extra. Eliminating this tariff just increases their margins.
That's not true. Prices were not increased. You may not know Apple's GPMs have decreased over the last couple of years; imposed tariffs being a part of that.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
developer13245 Avatar
developer13245
82 months ago
Fact: A 25% import tariff on cell phones and laptops would have killed Apple. Apple’s existence relies on psycho price points and margins - F that up and Apple is dead.. Period! Tim Cook made a special trip to DC to whisper that fact into Trump’s ear. This is why we have a “phase one” trade deal, it saved Apple.

Apple’s existence completely depends on China in its current form, including all of the ‘unsightly’ malfeasance perpetrated by the CCP (slave labor, etc…) This is the dirty little secret that no one wants to accept. So while other business have been able to decouple from China, this will not be the case for Apple (and a few other very large/influential companies). This has created a dilemma for the US government. Will the US government allow the CCP to continue wrecking the USA just so Apple can prop up the US stock market? Or will the US government do its job to protect the country? The choice should be obvious, but there is too much money to be made by those in power, especially those like Tim Cook who admire how the CCP organizes Chinese society (and would welcome that in the USA).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LizKat Avatar
LizKat
82 months ago
I keep looking at that watch with the pink strap and thinking it would serve as an amulet against the virus.

So... I must stop looking at it, and get back to keeping my social distance from even FedEx couriers.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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