6 ms·

Trump Threatens 25% Tariffs on Apple If iPhones Not Made in US

65 points by impish9208 1y ago

impish9208 1y ago
https://archive.is/x8fqV https://archive.is/x8fqV
duxup 1y ago
I’m starting to think Trump thinks about as deeply about things as a tweet.
- mdp2021 1y ago
  I think the above parent post will enter history textbooks.
belter 1y ago
So much energy spent, when all Apple would have to do, is buy the correct coins...or maybe that is the purpose all along. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-crypto-golf-club-dinner-1.7541823 https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-crypto-golf-club-dinner-...
- joshstrange 1y ago
  Oh, they paid up [0], maybe not enough but they did pay. [0] https://www.axios.com/2025/01/03/tim-cook-apple-donate-1-million-trump-inauguration https://www.axios.com/2025/01/03/tim-cook-apple-donate-1-mil... - nb4: Tim Cook = Apple for the purposes of this. I'm "he" donated to give Apple a firewall and a way to disown it when he retires (or hopefully is let go sooner).
  - xp84 1y ago
    It's true that Trump is laughably cheap to bribe when you compare the magnitude of the many bribes compared to the damage caused to whoever isn't bribing him (In his first term he put a big tariff on bauxite that cost billions to an entire industry who imports it to produce aluminum metal, for a small windfall for the only domestic bauxite producer (friend/donor of Trump), it was orders of magnitude less money) That said, I think current Trump wants to get his beak more wet. If Tim isn't an idiot, he's looking into joint ventures where Apple brokers and finances a couple of Trump Hotels in China or something. Not a million bucks.
pr07ecH70r 1y ago
My son (who is 7 and knows already basic maths) can tell you that if a giant production like Apple moves to the US will cost at least 90% or even more to produce. This automatically will make them 110+% more expensive, which will destroy the demand. And who will pay?! The biggest market - USA (~43% as of 2024) Interesting who are the finance advisors of the guy in the white house?!? Good luck!
- duxup 1y ago
  > who are the finance advisors of the guy in the white house As far as we know there’s nobody with an education in this administration who is making any sensible argument why these random choices make sense / will produce. Everyone in the administration who takes questions are political appointees / politicians and they to a person eventually ignore any specific questions and then tell you how great Trump is. The press conferences are creepy at times. The little info that leaks out from insiders indicates Trump doesn’t take advice from even his own staff often and they are blindsided by tweets frequently.
  - xp84 1y ago
    Peter Navarro, an unhinged lunatic with a singular obsession with tariffs, is the person who has Trump's exclusive attention when it comes to trade policy. Navarro is to tariffs as Ron Paul was to "abolishing the Fed"
- fragmede 1y ago
  What's math for the 90% more number?
  - occamsrazorwit 1y ago
    10+9 He's 7.
jqpabc123 1y ago
The only logical choice for Apple is to pay the 25% tariff. And the only logical choice for consumers/voters is to decide if they want to support this "tax" and by extension, it's proponent. The simple fact is that we now live in an interconnected world. It is simply not possible or practical to natively produce everything that goes into an iPhone. Not now, not within the decades to come and probably not ever. And decrees from the fuhrer and pining for yesteryear won't change this.
- duxup 1y ago
  I suspect Apple is concerned not just with the tariff, but the next tweet and the next… Tim already paid his bribe, https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/apple-ceo-tim-cook-donates-1-million-trump-inauguration-1236265079/ https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/apple-ceo-tim-cook-don... and others who have cut deals with him have found those deals to be less than solid. Law firms that settled with Trump have reported that they've received demands well outside their agreements.
  - jqpabc123 1y ago
    Concern is certainly understandable. The choice for Apple (and everyone) is how to respond effectively and appropriately. As it stands, the world economy is being subjected to the whims of one person. And this person has a checkered history with marketplace economics.
  - raincom 1y ago
    In the third world, $1M is hardly considered as a bribe. For large contracts in the third world, companies pay 20% as bribe. That's why Benazir Bhutto's husband is called "Mr 10%". In India, regional parties rule many states; the big bosses there want 20%.
- AnimalMuppet 1y ago
  No, the only logical choice for Apple is to go to court to block this random act of executive over-reach. The president does not have the constitutional authority to impose random tariffs on individual companies.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
Jsebast24 1y ago
[flagged]
- IAmGraydon 1y ago
  Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we're dealing with. Zero. Critical. Thought. This is the same kind of brainwashed lie that I keep seeing from Trump supporters everywhere. There seems to be absolutely zero self awareness, as if the very things they're saying don't actually enter into their consciousness for any kind of logical analysis. This guy has zero idea how idiotic what he just said is. He will go on to believe that all the downvotes are from those with "Trump Derangement Syndrome". Tell me, if the American workforce is living in tents and addled with drugs, give me some numbers. How many? And you think that we are going to do what? Make the homeless work in the iPhone factories? Is that what you're suggesting?
  - symlinkk 1y ago
    Yeah that sounds like a good idea
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - owlbite 1y ago
      I mean, we could just throw them in jail and then sell their labor back to giant corporate entities for a fraction of minimum wage.
- olalonde 1y ago
  That’s a pretty skewed perspective. First, while China isn’t a democracy, it's not a "brutal communist dictatorship". It’s more accurately described as a one-party authoritarian state with a predominantly capitalist economy. Second, the people "in tents on the sidewalks with their lives numbed by drugs" are not there because they can't find a job at an Apple factory, not even close. Third, even if we go with the "China is evil, we have to help people out of poverty" narrative, what's wrong with India? It is a democracy and has a much greater poverty problem than the US.
qingcharles 1y ago
Buy Samsung instead? They are a foreign corp that makes their products in Korea, so they only currently have 10% tariffs added. They didn't pay a million dollar donation to the inauguration fund, either.
- qingcharles 1y ago
  edit: Trump later clarified he would also tariff Samsung to make it fair.
sometimes_all 1y ago
> ... I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else... As an Indian, this makes me a bit sad. Less about the fact that iPhone manufacturing in India is threatened, and more about the fact that my loophole of getting cheaper iPhones (via a US relative/friend) is now closed...

65 points by impish9208 1y ago

impish9208 1y ago

https://archive.is/x8fqV https://archive.is/x8fqV

duxup 1y ago

I’m starting to think Trump thinks about as deeply about things as a tweet.

mdp2021 1y ago
I think the above parent post will enter history textbooks.

belter 1y ago

So much energy spent, when all Apple would have to do, is buy the correct coins...or maybe that is the purpose all along. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-crypto-golf-club-dinner-1.7541823 https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-crypto-golf-club-dinner-...

joshstrange 1y ago
Oh, they paid up [0], maybe not enough but they did pay. [0] https://www.axios.com/2025/01/03/tim-cook-apple-donate-1-million-trump-inauguration https://www.axios.com/2025/01/03/tim-cook-apple-donate-1-mil... - nb4: Tim Cook = Apple for the purposes of this. I'm "he" donated to give Apple a firewall and a way to disown it when he retires (or hopefully is let go sooner).
- xp84 1y ago
  It's true that Trump is laughably cheap to bribe when you compare the magnitude of the many bribes compared to the damage caused to whoever isn't bribing him (In his first term he put a big tariff on bauxite that cost billions to an entire industry who imports it to produce aluminum metal, for a small windfall for the only domestic bauxite producer (friend/donor of Trump), it was orders of magnitude less money) That said, I think current Trump wants to get his beak more wet. If Tim isn't an idiot, he's looking into joint ventures where Apple brokers and finances a couple of Trump Hotels in China or something. Not a million bucks.

pr07ecH70r 1y ago

My son (who is 7 and knows already basic maths) can tell you that if a giant production like Apple moves to the US will cost at least 90% or even more to produce. This automatically will make them 110+% more expensive, which will destroy the demand. And who will pay?! The biggest market - USA (~43% as of 2024) Interesting who are the finance advisors of the guy in the white house?!? Good luck!

duxup 1y ago
> who are the finance advisors of the guy in the white house As far as we know there’s nobody with an education in this administration who is making any sensible argument why these random choices make sense / will produce. Everyone in the administration who takes questions are political appointees / politicians and they to a person eventually ignore any specific questions and then tell you how great Trump is. The press conferences are creepy at times. The little info that leaks out from insiders indicates Trump doesn’t take advice from even his own staff often and they are blindsided by tweets frequently.
- xp84 1y ago
  Peter Navarro, an unhinged lunatic with a singular obsession with tariffs, is the person who has Trump's exclusive attention when it comes to trade policy. Navarro is to tariffs as Ron Paul was to "abolishing the Fed"
fragmede 1y ago
What's math for the 90% more number?
- occamsrazorwit 1y ago
  10+9 He's 7.

jqpabc123 1y ago

The only logical choice for Apple is to pay the 25% tariff. And the only logical choice for consumers/voters is to decide if they want to support this "tax" and by extension, it's proponent. The simple fact is that we now live in an interconnected world. It is simply not possible or practical to natively produce everything that goes into an iPhone. Not now, not within the decades to come and probably not ever. And decrees from the fuhrer and pining for yesteryear won't change this.

duxup 1y ago
I suspect Apple is concerned not just with the tariff, but the next tweet and the next… Tim already paid his bribe, https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/apple-ceo-tim-cook-donates-1-million-trump-inauguration-1236265079/ https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/apple-ceo-tim-cook-don... and others who have cut deals with him have found those deals to be less than solid. Law firms that settled with Trump have reported that they've received demands well outside their agreements.
- jqpabc123 1y ago
  Concern is certainly understandable. The choice for Apple (and everyone) is how to respond effectively and appropriately. As it stands, the world economy is being subjected to the whims of one person. And this person has a checkered history with marketplace economics.
- raincom 1y ago
  In the third world, $1M is hardly considered as a bribe. For large contracts in the third world, companies pay 20% as bribe. That's why Benazir Bhutto's husband is called "Mr 10%". In India, regional parties rule many states; the big bosses there want 20%.
AnimalMuppet 1y ago
No, the only logical choice for Apple is to go to court to block this random act of executive over-reach. The president does not have the constitutional authority to impose random tariffs on individual companies.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

Jsebast24 1y ago

[flagged]

IAmGraydon 1y ago
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we're dealing with. Zero. Critical. Thought. This is the same kind of brainwashed lie that I keep seeing from Trump supporters everywhere. There seems to be absolutely zero self awareness, as if the very things they're saying don't actually enter into their consciousness for any kind of logical analysis. This guy has zero idea how idiotic what he just said is. He will go on to believe that all the downvotes are from those with "Trump Derangement Syndrome". Tell me, if the American workforce is living in tents and addled with drugs, give me some numbers. How many? And you think that we are going to do what? Make the homeless work in the iPhone factories? Is that what you're suggesting?
- symlinkk 1y ago
  Yeah that sounds like a good idea
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - owlbite 1y ago
    I mean, we could just throw them in jail and then sell their labor back to giant corporate entities for a fraction of minimum wage.
olalonde 1y ago
That’s a pretty skewed perspective. First, while China isn’t a democracy, it's not a "brutal communist dictatorship". It’s more accurately described as a one-party authoritarian state with a predominantly capitalist economy. Second, the people "in tents on the sidewalks with their lives numbed by drugs" are not there because they can't find a job at an Apple factory, not even close. Third, even if we go with the "China is evil, we have to help people out of poverty" narrative, what's wrong with India? It is a democracy and has a much greater poverty problem than the US.

qingcharles 1y ago

Buy Samsung instead? They are a foreign corp that makes their products in Korea, so they only currently have 10% tariffs added. They didn't pay a million dollar donation to the inauguration fund, either.

qingcharles 1y ago
edit: Trump later clarified he would also tariff Samsung to make it fair.

sometimes_all 1y ago

> ... I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else... As an Indian, this makes me a bit sad. Less about the fact that iPhone manufacturing in India is threatened, and more about the fact that my loophole of getting cheaper iPhones (via a US relative/friend) is now closed...