After per week of fears, uncertainty, and doubt, President Trump dropped a shock on Saturday that will probably be music to Tim Cook dinner’s ears: All of Apple’s merchandise are exempt from the 125 p.c tariffs positioned this week on Chinese language imports. That follows a 90-day pause on tariffs on all different international locations.
The exemption covers all kinds of tech merchandise, together with smartphones, laptops, laborious drives, and, processors, in addition to headphones and sensible audio system. That’s principally all the pieces Apple sells, with the attainable exception of some equipment equivalent to Apple Pencil and Magic Mouse. For now, plainly it is going to be enterprise as normal at Apple Park, with no rapid concern of rising costs.
Nonetheless, the state of affairs may change at any second. Simply this week, Trump raised tariffs, paused tariffs, threatened extra tariffs, took goal at TSMC by threatening a 100% tax, and exempted principally something with a microchip. So Apple’s reprieve could also be momentary. Trump’s strikes have been unpredictable—together with Saturday’s exemption—so it’s unclear what may occur subsequent. For instance, a 20 p.c “fentanyl” tariff seemingly stays on China’s imports for all merchandise, and U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick mentioned smartphones and different shopper electronics should still be hit with separate tariffs. So, Trump may resolve to levy additional tariffs or alter the listing of exempted merchandise.
However for now, the fears round value hikes, particularly with the iPhone 17 simply months away, have calmed.
