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US companies would suffer the largest losses if US President Donald Trump imposed a tariff of 10% on laptops and smartphones made in China.
Apple, whose iPhones and MacBooks are mainly assembled in China, could be hard hit while its Chinese partners will remain unscathed, said a Jefferies analyst.
The majority of Apple's product profits come from the United States, followed by Korea, Japan, Taiwan and a few European countries, according to Conor O'Mara, technology, media and telecom specialist at Jefferies in Hong Kong. "China is only a small part of the added value," he said in an email on Tuesday.
In another shock related to the trade war, General Motors announced Monday that it would lay off 15%, or about 8,000 of its employees, and shut down the production of five plants in the United States and Canada while in the United States. she struggled to stay profitable. "We are appropriately sizing our capacity to the realities of the marketplace," said Executive Director Mary Barra, denying that reductions were the result of tariffs but weak sales and changes in the manufacturing sector. l & # 39; automobile.
In a telephone conversation with analysts, Barra acknowledged that Trump's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum imports were part of the "headwinds" that GM was facing and that they had cost a billion dollars to the largest American manufacturer. China has been GM's largest retail market for the sixth year in a row until 2017.
Donald Trump asks Apple to make products in the United States after tariff cuts
Customs duties amounting to some US $ 250 billion have been applied on goods from China and are expected to increase from 10% to 25% on additional goods not exceeding US $ 200 billion. This measure is part of the measures to reduce the trade deficit with China and alleged theft of US intellectual property and forced technology transfer, according to the US Trade Representative's Office.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, which has already lost 20% of its value in a technology market since October, may suffer further losses when tariffs on its devices come into effect January 1 of the year. next year.
With the exception of a small number of older models of iPhone made in Brazil and India, the majority of Apple products are assembled in China, from where they are shipped to Worldwide scale for sale. The tariffs imposed in September had spared the iPhone, which generated half of the company's sales, but related to product lines such as Apple accessories and the Mac Mini.
The US administration had initially omitted the smart phones and laptops made in China to minimize the impact of the trade war on consumers.
But in an interview with the the Wall Street newspaper This week, Trump admitted the possibility of including the devices. "I mean, I can win 10%, and people could handle that very easily … the biggest of that amount is paid by China."
Apple did not immediately reply for a comment.
Apple is struggling to maintain sales of its new high-priced handsets. It has also reduced orders from two component suppliers in China by about 30% after its latest, slightly more economical iPhone XR model failed to reach expected sales, as stated in the report. To post last week.
Earlier this month, CEO Tim Cook said Apple was pleased with its performance in China, where revenue grew 16 percent to $ 11.4 billion. A fifth consecutive quarter, the company recorded double-digit growth in the market. However, Cook also announced that the company would no longer release iPhone sales figures – or sales figures for its products – during future earnings appeals, which would spur speculation about the decline in sales. iPhone sales.
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