The US-China trade war could affect Apple's iPhones

The new tariffs that President Donald Trump wants to impose on Chinese imports could embarrbad the giant Apple technology, since most of its badembly lines for iPhone are in China.

So far, Apple has hardly suffered the ravages of the commercial dispute and, for the moment, the privileges they only affected the electronic circuits and computer chips.

However, if Trump finally evaluates all imports of Chinese products, the impact on iPhones – whose parts come together in China – This could be huge and the company should raise the price of cell phones or absorb the costs and decrease their profits.

Moreover, the bitten apple society is economically dependent on China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where he makes a fifth of his sales, so that Apple would be in a vulnerable situation if the Chinese executive decided to retaliate against the United States. for new rates.

On several occasions, Trump has publicly asked Apple to move from China to the United States. on its badembly lines and Saturday, without reference to the company, said on Twitter: "What is the easiest way to avoid tariffs? Manufacture or manufacture your goods and products to old and good United States. It's very easy! "

In the meantime, Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, has not taken a stand on the issue, even though he was previously optimistic about the negotiations.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington worsened on Friday when tariff increases of 10 to 25 percent began to apply to Chinese imports, worth $ 200 billion, after Trump blamed China for renegotiate the agreement. "at the last minute"

On Friday, US foreign trade chief Robert Lighthizer and China's chief negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, met in Washington to try to find a solution to the tensions, but the appointment ended earlier than planned and without agreement.

In the night, Lighthizer announced in a statement that Trump had ordered him to start the process in order to price the rest of Chinese imports, a decision that maximizes trade tensions and could affect some of the most sought-after products by US consumers, such as iPhones.

In fact, tariffs would affect 100% of the toys and sports equipment that China sells in the United States. as well as 93% of shoes (including Nike sneakers), 91% of clothing and 67% of electronic devicesaccording to a study by the Peterson Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

So, if the new rates came into effect, the trade war would become a reality for Americans, who could see the price of the clothes they buy chained up. Walmart and Target, They depend on cheaper products imported from China.

Dan DiMicco, a former Trump advisor during the 2016 campaign, told NPR radio that Americans should not ask "how to get cheaper underwear"but they must focus their energies on victory"existential battle"against China.

On Monday, the US Trade Representative's office will provide details on Trump's decision to fix the price of the remaining Chinese imports.

In an interview with the Fox Network, the White House's chief economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, explained that these new rates could take "two or three months "to implement because before they must be subject to a process of public debate, in which the Americans can propose modifications to the initiative.

Once this process is complete, "the president will have the last wordKudlow said that this opens the door for these rates to end up being taxed if there are changes in the negotiation.

In fact, Kudlow announced that Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will probably meet in June on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Japan to discuss trade.

The last time Trump and Xi met at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in December 2018, they agreed to a truce in the trade dispute.

With information from EFE