tech

Apple will face tariffs on components imported from China: Trump

17 Comments
By Brittany Hosea-Small

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17 Comments
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If Apple makes the parts in the US, the end product will be more expensive, because labor costs in the US are very high. How is having more expensive laptops going to benefit US consumers? Do average Americans really care where their iphone is made, or do they just want a good quality product on low price? Americans benefit by being able to buy stuff on low prices, that's why Wall Mart is so successful. How are Americans going to benefit even if Apple builds a plant in Texas? Sure, the city where the plant will be build will benefit by the increased demand for labor, which will drive up the labor costs i.e. wages, but how are people from the rest of the country going to benefit from this? How is someone from Kansas going to benefit? He is not, there will be no new jobs in Kansas, and the Apple products will now be more expensive.

People have an incredibly distorted and misguided view on what "the economy" is. They view "the economy" like a monolithic entity represented by a number. What people should be focusing on is standards of living, not these meaningless trade or GDP numbers. High standards of living come when you have access to goods and services on low cost.

-2 ( +8 / -10 )

It’s only half about helping US companies. The other is about China. It’s a war. Lucky, this time no body counts. At times I feel people prefer seeing body counts than more expensive goods when looking at world wars.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"How is having more expensive laptops going to benefit US consumers?"

Those consumers who work in the US IT industry will benefit, since they'll have decent paying jobs in a sustainable industry, and more money to spend on things like laptops. And consumers who are stakeholders in their sector as well, such as those employed along the supply chain.

This national industrial policy approach has been used by nearly all the successful economic powers, like Japan, back when its economy and middle class were growing rapidly.

However, from the 1980s, the Neo-liberal approach that favors offshoring has made Walmart the US's biggest private-sector employer, real wages stagnate and the middle class shrink. Walmart workers can't pay more for laptops, because they're too poor, even though they work 40 hours a week and need to collect food stamps.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Apple won't move production back to the U.S., and American consumers will pay the passed-on tariff, not China.

Proving once again that Trump learned nothing at Wharton - no wonder he had Cohen threaten them not to leak his grades.

What a con man! Virtually all of his branded products are not made in the U.S.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

well he want to do something before he step down from the WH, cuz he couldn't do anything to north korea and iran he thought ya let keep fighting for trade with china what a child minded

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The issue here is that Apple wants to keep their huge profit margins.

At the prices they sell basically they can produce elswere. Or at least pay the Chinese workers more decent wages and provide more humain working conditions.

Unfortunately Apple is at the bottom in regards to respecting all of these.

Steve Jobs was a visionary man, but also famous for not taking in account basic ethics. Still today Apple does not make much efforts to improve their bad reputation.

For that reason I do not have any Apple products.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Apple will face tariffs on components imported from China

Good. Build in America, Apple.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

I actually thought this was going to be an article about Apple joining in the Cheese Grater business, but it was not such. Imagine how expensive Apples will become if they make the components stateside?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Apple has never built its iPhone in the United States of America (U.S./USA). Apple’s supply chain is global.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Trump will be happy charging USA citizens his tariffs.

Trump should have enough from his tariffs now to pay for his wall.

What is he doing with all of the income from his tariffs ?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Good. Build in America, Apple.

why they can build them in India , Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and about a dozen other countries that have far lower labour cost than the US. Looks like that trade deficit will continue to grow, only difference itll just be spread around to more countires. So much for balancing the trade imbalance he stated he was going to do, because trade wars are easy to win.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@JeffLee

You are engaged in the fallacy of protectionism. Who is protected, and on what expense?

Yes, the people working in that industry will get a good paying job, but on what expense? Every other person in the country will have to pay higher prices for the same product, thus will have less money to spend on other things that they values, therefore their standards of living will be decreased. Even the worker who you are protecting will have to pay higher prices, so his high wage will have less value than it would have otherwise. So you sacrificing the entire nation just for a small group of people. The only arrangement that benefits MOST people on the expense of a small group of people is free trade. Regulated trade, what you are proposing, benefits small group of people on the expense of most people.

The problem with Japan during the bubble era was exactly the same. They were prioritizing a small group of people, the export industries, on the expense of everybody else. The people working in the export industry were benefiting, but the people working outside that industry were paying the high cost and not getting any of the benefits. There were barely any good paying jobs outside the export industry, because protectionism and subsidization did not allow the service sector to develop, and it also killed income and social mobility. This type of economic model create a very rigid social structure. You are again mistaken by focusing on the numbers, instead of looking at the big picture.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Seems fair, make the stuff locally within the country you wish to sell it to, or be subjected to import Duties. For too long Companies have been hoping from one Country to another in order to reduce their Labor costs. Its about time, reality crept upon the general populace, you can't have it both ways... jobs and cheap imports through locally untaxed online retailers.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I would also wonder, whether Globalisation in order to deliver cheap products has led to the demise of the workforces in those Western Countries, promoting Laziness, reliance upon Parents, and to add insult upon injury now with gig jobbing becoming the defacto base, to keep people stuck in that baseline position. The UK's Zero-Contract Hours style of employment is worse than gig-jobbing as it ties you to a single employer who can furlow you at a whim and you dont get paid, and cant do anything inbetween... unless you do the Uber thing to bring in Cash to pay the bills, and keep the interest only mortgage payments afloat....

Guess what's going to happen when Interest rates rise ?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

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