Summary: Apple seems to be fearing the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, as the company flew thousands of iPhones into the U.S. just before the tariffs take place. This means that the company does not want to take the financial hit.
Just a couple of months ago, we got the news that Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, donated a million dollars to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. It’s funny how our poor decisions can come back to bite us in the rear. When Trump returned to office, he started bringing forth tariffs left and right. These tariffs, which go into effect on Wednesday, April 9th, will drastically raise the price of foreign goods.
iPhones are manufactured in China and India. Since they have to be imported, they’re affected by the tariffs as well. So, the higher the tariffs, the more it costs to bring them across the ocean.
How much will it cost to import iPhones? Apple is looking down the barrel of a 104% tariff. This is pretty terrifying, and it means that Apple has a tough choice to make. Does it take the financial loss (which will tank its stocks and ruin its profit margin), or does it pass the taxes on consumers (which will cause fewer people to buy iPhones, thus affecting Apple’s stocks and profit margin)?
Apple flew in a bunch of iPhones to beat the tariffs
Tim Cook was hoping for an exemption from the tariffs, but it looks like that’s not going to happen. Rather than that, Apple was presented with the decision to bring iPhone manufacturing over to U.S. soil. This is a process that could take years and cost a ton of money. It’s not something that will happen overnight.
Right now, Apple is making the best with what it has. The company shipped five planes full of iPhones over to the U.S. just in time to beat the tariffs. This way, it can postpone the price increase for as long as it can. We don’t know how long this stash will last, as Apple stores were jam-packed with customers also trying to beat the tariff deadline.
This is a band-aid solution at best, as the company is preparing for the iPhone 17 launch. When it announces that phone, it’s going to have to rip the band-aid off and tell us whether the prices skyrocketed or not.
