Plans to place a 25 per cent tariff on imports from China could aid Apple’s rivals
Apple has warned the US government if it doesn’t drop US tariffs on Chinese goods the American firm will not be as competitive against its Chinese rivals.
In a letter, Apple asks the US government to consider dropping the proposed 25 per cent tariff on imports from China. Apple said this would impact its headline products such as iPhones and iPads, which are manufactured in China. This letter follows a meeting between US president Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook (pictured).
Apple claimed the tariff will “tilt the playing field in favour of our global competitors” since Chinese and other non-US vendors would not be impacted by the tariffs.
The firm claims to be the largest corporate tax payer in the US but the tariffs could cut into that. Last year, more than $350billion was pledged by Apple to be invested into US economy for the next five years.
A major casualty so far in the US/China trade war is Huawei. The Chinese vendor’s founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei expects a £25billion revenue drop from predicted £125 billion, and 40 to 60 billion less smartphones sold.
US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said president Donald Trump would consider removing Huawei from the banned entity list if trade talks with China progressed favourably.
