US tariffs: How Apple is currently dealing with price increases
Apple has set aside a good one billion US dollars due to US punitive tariffs against China and other countries.
Apple CEO Tim Cook in a video for a White House meeting on economic policy.
(Image: Apple / White House / Screenshot YouTube)
Apple did not see any major impact from the punitive tariffs introduced by the US government in the first quarter. Firstly, this had to do with the fact that certain electronic products are exempt from the surcharge of up to 145 percent, although there is a minimum surcharge of 20 percent. Secondly, however, Apple also managed to build up a large cushion of imported products in the USA at an early stage. The iPhone manufacturer is therefore currently still in a position to cushion the impact of the US tariffs. However, this may no longer be the case in the current quarter and may lead to price increases, say observers.
Initially, only a little money set aside
In the quarterly figures announced last week, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple had set aside a total of 900 million US dollars in provisions precisely for this purpose. At the same time, the growth forecast was restricted and it was stated that it is unclear how the following quarters will develop. It therefore remains unclear whether the current exceptions will be maintained. In addition, Apple already pays the aforementioned 145 percent for some products from the accessories division if they come from China. The 20 percent already payable is the so-called Fentanyl Tariff, which the Trump administration decided in spring – because China was not sufficiently preventing the export of artificial drugs.
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Apple's 900 million dollars (with a most recent turnover of 95 billion dollars in the first quarter) have now been calculated in such a way that the company will initially be able to pay the aforementioned 20 percent. This allows the company to keep its iPhone prices stable in the USA for now – The only question is for how long. The company is currently trying to shift as much production as possible of the iPhones planned for the US to India, as the company assumes that the American government will be more lenient towards the subcontinent. But firstly, it will be years before this is implemented and secondly, it is unclear whether this will remain the case in the long term.
The problem of tariffs on components
Furthermore, It is conceivable that the US government will begin to impose new punitive tariffs on the components that are so important to Apple. This has already been announced at the highest level and an investigation is currently underway by the Trump administration, which would like to make itself independent of foreign suppliers of products such as semiconductors, rare earths or magnetic materials. It is therefore possible that Apple will receive tariff exemptions for its products, but the components and materials they contain will still be subject to import duties.
In fact, it is surprising that Apple has so far kept its tariffs stable for US customers – Other electronics manufacturers are already charging more. Sony, for example, is adding 110 dollars to its PlayStation 5 Pro, Microsoft wants 100 dollars more for the Xbox Series X and DJI is selling its Osmo Pocket 3 vlog camera for a whopping 280 dollars more. At Apple, an iPhone 16 still starts at 799 dollars (plus tax, depending on the state).
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