“Apple and Tesla will receive tariff waivers (if Trump executes his proposed China tariffs) – Make no mistake, increased tariffs are coming for many manufacturers, but Apple and Tesla will be spared high tariffs – Trump doesn’t want Tesla to lose to BYD or Apple to lose to Samsung.”-Gene Munster, Managing Partner, Deepwater Asset Management
Some devices such as the Apple Watch and AirPods were among certain tech products built in China that Apple had to pay higher taxes on when shipped to the U.S. during Trump’s first term. Luckily for American consumers, the company ate the additional costs itself and the public did not have to reach deeper into their wallets to buy these products.
There is also the possibility that Trump could change his mind about protecting Apple and the iPhone. The president-elect would consider it quite an accomplishment if he could somehow force Apple to move more of its iPhone manufacturing out of China and into India, or other countries such as Vietnam. While Apple has been reportedly working on plans to shift its manufacturing out of China and into other countries, this won’t happen if Apple continues to get special favors from Trump such as tariff waivers.