26 Apple products trump’s tariffs will make more expensive
Who pays? You do.
While the current us prez turns to Twitter to share a flawed analysis that it’s as easy as pie to replace an international consumer electronics supply chain with ‘Made In U.S.’ components, even though the infrastructure and engineering talent (let alone the educated labor force) is not in place, Apple has warned that it will be U.S. consumers who lose if fresh tariffs are applied.
26 Apple products tariffs will make more expensive
Apple has written a letter to the government in which it reveals all these products may become more expensive to consumers as a result of tariffs.
- Apple Watch
- AirPods
- HomePod
- Mac mini
- MacBook
- MacBook Pro
- Mac Pro
- iMac
- iMac Pro
- AirPort routers
- Time Capsule
- Beats headphones
- Apple Pencil
- Magic Mouse
- Magic Keyboard
- iPhone cables
- Apple dongles
- Apple adaptors
- Apple designed components
- Tooling solutions used in Apple’s U.S. manufacturing and repair facilities
- Testing tools used in Apple’s R&D labs
- iCloud servers
- Drives and cables used in Apple’s data centers
- Components used in iPhones, Macs and other Apple products, such as memory, logic boards and more
- App Store servers through increase in equipment costs
- Apple leather cases for iPhones, iPads and Macs
Who benefits?
While it is possible some consumers will simply grin and bear these raised prices, they will have an impact across Apple and its global supply chain and may significantly impact Apple’s business.
The tariffs will raise product prices across the U.S., impact economic growth and may also impact the two million U.S. jobs Apple already helps create.
That’s a bad thing, as Apple is already the largest corporate taxpayer in the U.S.
That means that decisions that negatively impact Apple’s position will inevitably impact the U.S. economy in a negative way – rather more than, say, imposing an additional member’s tax on golf courses would defray.
The inevitability within all this is that if Apple were to attempt to build a U.S. supply chain to replace its international one, it would be unable to find enough trained staff, which would prompt it to create automated facilities, meaning fewer jobs on a global scale and little employment on a national one.
“Price elasticity of demand” anyone? If you remember the first day of class in Economics 101 where supply and demand interacted to produce price? Remember that cost of production did not enter directly? If the market would support the higher price proposed here they should raise the price now with or without tariffs. Give the very high martup it is unlikely either tariffs or domestic production would materially increase the price to consumers.
For a century and a half the USA was the most tariff protected economy in the world and Americans generally had lower prices than most of the world.