With the tariffs on assorted products from China having kicked in on September 1st, JPMorgan has estimate that Chinese tariffs could cost the average $1,000 a year.
The tariff applies to a huge range of products from milk to sports equipment, with many Apple products hit…
A spokesperson for the National Retail Federation stated that the tariffs will raise prices for American families and hurt the economy:
“We’re talking about the potential for millions of lost jobs, less investment, slower GDP growth, increased unemployment, higher prices. This is a perfect storm.”
Tariffs took effect yesterday on the following Apple products:
- Desktop Macs
- Apple Watch
- AirPods and all wireless Beats headphones
- HomePod
Apple has managed to escape a tariff on the iPhone for nw, so the first round of sales from the 2019 model iPhones will be tariff-free. A 15 percent tariff would apply to the following Apple products from December 15th on:
- iPhone
- iPad
- MacBook/Air/Pro
- iPod touch
- Apple TV
- Apple Pro Display XDR
- Keyboards
- Wired headphones
President Donald Trump initially said that Apple CEO Tim Cook had made a “compelling argument” that the tariffs would hurt Apple in its competition with Samsung, although reprieves from the tariffs were not made permanent.
Analysts such as the ever-reliable Ming-Chi Kuo expressed the idea that Apple will absorb the tariffs for now:
“Kuo writes that Apple has likely made ‘proper preparations’ for such a tariff, and he predicts that Apple will ‘absorb most of the additional costs’ in the mid-short term. Thus, Kuo believes that ‘prices of hardware products and shipment forecasts for the U.S. market will remain unchanged’ despite the tariff.”
That will, however, come at a cost to Apple’s bottom line. Back when the December tariff was set to be 10 percent rather than 15 percent, it was estimated that AAPL earnings would be cut by 4 percent. That impact will now be worse.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.