Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., July 10, 2019.
Brendan McDermid | REUTERS
Apple stock dropped sharply after President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. will put an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of goods imported from China starting on September 1.
Apple stock was down more than 2% on Tuesday, erasing previous earlier gains. The Dow dropped more than 200 points on the Trump tweet. The S&P 500 was down less than 1% but had earlier gains wiped out.
The company assembles iPhones and other computers in China, making it vulnerable to price increases if a tariff were to be placed on Chinese exports, although it is unclear which Apple products may be affected by the proposed tariff. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The way I view this is, the vast majority of our products are kind of made everywhere,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this week on a call with analysts. “That’s the nature of a global supply chain. Largely, I think that will carry the day in the future as well.
Apple generally opposes the U.S. tariffs, including those placed on a separate list of goods that went into effect last fall and were raised to 25% in May. That list ended up not including Apple products. Cook said last year that he personally told President Donald Trump that tariffs are the wrong approach to China.
On June 17, Apple said in a letter to U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer that a fourth proposed tariff list overing an additional $300 billion of imports from China would cover “all of Apple’s major products” and would would hurt its contribution to the U.S. economy.
“The proposed tariff list covers all of Apple’s major products, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and AppleTV, as well as the parts and batteries used to repair products in the United States,” Apple said in the letter. “The proposed tariffs also cover accessories that Apple makes for these devices, such as monitors and keyboards.”
“We urge the U.S. Government not to impose tariffs on these products,” Apple said in the letter.
Earlier this week, Cook said in a call with analysts that it was investing in capacity in the United States because it wants to “make” a high-end desktop computer, the Mac Pro, domestically. However, Trump said that his administration would not grant Apple tariff exceptions on key parts from China.
