US President Donald Trump said that Apple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook voiced concerns about chief competitor Samsung Electronics Co getting an edge because its products, unlike Apple’s, would not be subject to tariffs when imported by the US.
Cook and Trump had dinner on Friday last week, while the president was at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Trump described the conversation to reporters as he prepared to travel back to Washington.
The majority of Apple’s products are due to be hit with 10 percent tariffs in the next weeks or months. Levies on the iPhone, iPad and Apple laptops have been pushed back to Dec. 15, but the tariff that would hit the Apple Watch, AirPods and many accessories is still planned for Sept. 1.
Photo: AFP
Trump said that Cook made a “good case” about the difficulty in competing with Samsung if Apple products are subject to import tariffs.
“I thought he made a very compelling argument,” Trump added.
Apple would be hit by tariffs because it makes most of its devices in China before importing them to the US and other parts of the world.
However, Samsung builds its products across several countries, including Vietnam and South Korea, in addition to China, which means that their tariff impact would be far less than that of Apple.
“It’s tough for Apple to pay tariffs if it’s competing with a very good company that’s not,” Trump said.
Apple needs to incorporate the cost of tariffs into the cost of goods, while Samsung would not, putting Apple at a competitive disadvantage.
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