As US levies tariff on Chinese goods, Apple products could get costlier
03 September, 2019
A new entry into the United States governments’ Federal Register late last week, announced the levy of 15% tariffs on Chinese goods entering their country. This is yet another development in the ongoing trade war between the two countries, which has already seen tech companies like Huawei suffer due to the restrictions.
Apple, which assembles a huge number of its products in China will suffer from the effect of the tariffs. It does in partnership with the company FoxConn, in China. While the company does have some products assembled in India, it may not be able to completely deflect the effect of the tariffs for consumers.
The newer set of tariffs will include products like TVs, speakers, digital cameras, lithium-ion batteries, and flash drives according to news portal TechCrunch.
Should the tech-giant decide to levy the charges instead of absorbing them itself, the following products may see an increase in prices according to Bloomberg.
1. Apple Watch and Watch bands
2. AirPods
3. HomePod
4. Some Beats headphones
5. IMac computers
6. Repair parts for iPhones may also be hit
7. Nand flash, a key storage component for iPhones, could also be affected
Meanwhile Apple’s iPhones will not suffer from a tariff increase however, with another set of them scheduled to be implemented by 15th of December the iPhone prices could rise by then.
Apple had reportedly been lobbying the Trump government in the US for a long time to not levy such tariffs. However, with these being implemented anyway it shall now have to compete with the unfair advantage available to South Korean manufacturer Samsung according to its CEO Tim Cook.
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