Apple says Trump’s China tariffs are going to hurt the company

FAN Editor

President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on China cover a wide range of Apple products, the tech giant said in a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, pulling the country’s largest tech company squarely into the crosshairs of ongoing trade tensions.

Trump’s proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would affect the Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Pencil, the company said in the letter. It would also hit the HomePod, Mac Mini and adapters and chargers for a host of products. As a result, consumers will have to pay more for Apple products, the company said.

“It is difficult to see how tariffs that hurt U.S. companies and U.S. consumers will advance the Government’s objectives with respect to China’s technology policies,” Apple said in the letter. “We hope, instead, that you will reconsider these measures and work to find other, more effective solutions that leave the U.S. economy and U.S. consumer stronger and healthier than ever before.”

Bloomberg first reported the letter.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had previously brushed off tariff concerns, saying he’d had conversations with Trump about the tariffs and that Cook was confident tariffs wouldn’t hit the iPhone. The iPhone drives most of Apple’s profits, and it was not listed as one of the products that would be affected by the tariffs.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s public notice and comment period for the proposed additional tariffs ended Thursday, White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters said in a statement to CNBC.

“USTR is conducting a thorough review of public submissions. However, potential scenarios like this only further reinforce the importance of how getting China to play by the rules and fix their unfair practices will be good for the US and global economy,” Walters said.

Apple shares shed 1 percent just before market close Friday, after gaining as much as 1 percent earlier in the session. Shares of Apple suppliers Qualcomm, Skyworks and Cirrus Logic also dipped.

You can read Apple’s letter here:

—CNBC’s Josh Lipton contributed to this report.

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