Apple gets a hard hit from "Liberation Day" tariffs

03 April 2025
The whole supply chain suddenly becomes a lot more expensive.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • pU{
  • 03 Apr 2025

Anonymous, 03 Apr 2025It will hurt in the long term as well - when the rest of th... more"It will hurt in the long term as well - when the rest of the world see how the US politics are this unstable (just look at what happened in 3 months), who would put long-term business faith in them?"
Tariffs are nothing new, It was not that unexpected considering USA has a negative trade balance, but I didn't expect It will be such a radical move.
From 2022 (in US$ Thousand) -> Import vs Export:
China: 575,688,091.17 vs 153,837,022.41 = -421,851,068.76
Mexico: 459,177,656.36 vs 324,377,768.94 = -134,799,887.42
Vietnam: 135,876,540.95 vs 11,398,113.40 = -124,478,427.55
Canada: 354,887,051.26 vs 446,623,933.61 = -91,736,882.34
Germany: 150,408,499.38 vs 72,549,705.24 = -77,858,794.14
Japan: 154,445,161.54 vs 80,304,526.18 = -74,140,635.37
Ireland: 82,505,715.78 vs 15,955,712.86 = -66,550,002.92
South Korea: 120,859,256.40 vs 71,469,488.66 = -49,389,767.73
Thailand: 63,012,027.52 vs 15,592,499.44 = -47,419,528.09
Italy: 71,874,907.42 vs 27,410,694.46 = -44,464,212.96
India: 90,991,853.18 vs 47,332,140.04 = -43,659,713.14
Malaysia: 56,896,643.09 vs 18,102,781.83 = -38,793,861.27
These are TOP 12 countries USA has the largest trade balance deficit and as you can see USA didn't fare well at all.
Big companies will continue doing business in USA, they will just have to move the production there.
I don't see how the political situation should particularly affect that, they won't pull out of the US market.

"The chance for big business to side with China is much higher - ethics aside, they have been praising fair trade for years - compared to what we see from the US right now - they actually look like the much better deal.
Samsung already seems to be going forward with putting more production in China."
Fair trade was(is) advantageous for China unlike USA, because they export more than import.
I don't see how China is a better deal when there you have a very strong competition of domestic companies and I doubt profits are better there.
I don't see what Samsung will particularly gain by moving more production to China, maybe they fear possible tariffs from China or something.

"And even if some DO chose to move production to the US - how many US citizens want minimum wage borderline slave-labor-level jobs in factories? People just don't understand what these jobs are and how much unrewarded qualification is required to do them, it will take easily 10+ years to just get enough to start with, let alone actually make it viable."
I can agree, that this is the biggest hurdle. Unemployment is pretty low in US so workforce will be missing for certain, especially If those are minimum wage jobs.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • y2e
    • 03 Apr 2025

    Anonymous, 03 Apr 2025So you want to say some "stupid" voters outvoted ... moreThe price will stay high no matter what. Wether the company continues to export tot he US or if they move to the US. Both of these outcomes result in a higher price for the consumer. Unless the US can magically lower the cost of living, which would lower the labor costs for manufacturers. We are seeing the opposite: Raising the cost of living by using blanket tariffs

    Tariffs are the most expensive and painful (to the citizens) way to try and bring manufacturing into the country.

      with this move US based display manufacturers, etc. can finally get orders. planar and lxd exist, tsmc has plants in the US so they wont be going back to 12nm either, your bias is clear as water. omnivision is there and it's quite popular in the mid segment plus assembling the iPhones themselves there is no major hurdle.

      This policy with SW in china created loads of jobs, if the next admin wont suspend the bill to oblivion it will slowly have the same effects for the US. It could've been better but I find its long term prospects if it ends up working pretty cool. more competitors everywhere.

      I suggest these takes stay on reddit. especially considering your own posting rules: No politics or religious discussions. Please stick to tech topics here, we will not tolerate posts advocating any political or religious views or causes

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • mx2
        • 03 Apr 2025

        with this move US based display manufacturers, etc. can finally get orders. planar and lxd exist, tsmc has plants in the US. your bias is clear as water.

        This policy with SW in china created loads of jobs, if the next admin wont suspend the bill to oblivion it will slowly have the same effects for the US.
        I suggest these takes stay on reddit. especially considering your own posting rules.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • naw
          • 03 Apr 2025

          Considering the absurd amounts of people in the US that get (aka finance) their phones through their carriers, this will make no difference.
          Even less with apple, that even "broke" people get because of status symbol the brand brings. (/facepalm)

            Every American buying and iPhone (or any other smartphone or any other product subject to tariffs) will pay the tariffs equally. Wether An unemployed guy or one of the richest.
            However not every American will gain from the reduction of the income tax equally... The richest will gain far far far more and the unemployed zero. So what's happening is actually redistributung capital from the poorest to the richest even if it takes hurting the US and World economy to do that.

              I can already see it. By the time Apple Announces iPhone 17 Series? The Price would be much more expensive in America. And People will claim Apple is this. Apple is that. Little did they know. The only thing to blame is the Tariff! Not the Company! But the MAGA's will defend trump and say. Trump didn't do anything wrong. Trump is a good guy. Trump is our savior. This and that. What a load of B!

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • p1g
                • 03 Apr 2025

                No matter what opinion you have on these tariffs, they show how much of a “poser” Apple is. They make almost nothing themselves, they only design a few things and do the software part, which they are terrible at.

                Apple stopped being American a long time ago, but Apple is still successful because it's perceived as THE American luxury brand and anyone who owns an Apple device can experience the American placebo dream.

                Now that Trump imposed those tariffs, reality has hit Apple hard.

                  Like the famous saying "only 2 things are infinite: the universe and stupi...and i'm not sure about the 1st one".

                    Anonymous, 03 Apr 2025My point was that not just some people voted for Trump like... morei''d say it's pretty stupid to vote for a convicted felon who was best friends with epstein

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                      • 1989
                      • GXs
                      • 03 Apr 2025

                      Thank you mudiji

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • CbI
                        • 03 Apr 2025

                        It is for American companies to return manufacturing to US. They are are doing what is good for them in the long run. Flower generation won't understand.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 2FA
                          • 03 Apr 2025

                          Just demand the suppliers pay the tariffs. Right? /

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • n@u
                            • 03 Apr 2025

                            Anonymous, 03 Apr 2025So you want to say some "stupid" voters outvoted ... moreBrother, there is not a single positive that will come out of this, not one, nada, that's fact.

                              Edward Coventry, 03 Apr 2025Surely every smart phone company gets hit equally hard on t... moreExactly! Making a post specifically about Apple is kinda like this - https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSA-eNHB1__gHh7dEtOg1p3ZcnqxkarP9-yw&s

                              "Boo Hoo my trillion dollar company 😭" vibes

                                This is basically Trump forcing everyone to re-/negotiate.
                                And I bet Apple will, the fact that Tim Cook has been close to whoever is in power. Negotiation is his forte.

                                As for the consumers, either Apple would take a hit from their thick margin (and they can if they wanted to), or US consumers finally feel what other countries have been getting for Apple pricing.

                                Might also give people some sort of context why the 16e was priced at $600. Apple is not stupid.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • pU{
                                  • 03 Apr 2025

                                  Bot10Exists, 03 Apr 2025what are you even trying to say? me being in the minority d... moreMy point was that not just some people voted for Trump like you presented It. He won the popular vote and also the electoral vote.

                                  And calling others names is not very nice now is It? But ok, in the polarized USA for both sides the others are the stupid ones.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • XZP
                                    • 03 Apr 2025

                                    Anonymous, 03 Apr 2025So you want to say some "stupid" voters outvoted ... moreI also think it has the chance to work out for the US in the long run if *things were done right*.

                                    BTW by long run I mean like 20 years. That's how long it's gonna take to rebuild your labor pool.

                                      This could drive an iPhone to over a thousand USD in price. It may seem overpriced at that point.
                                      Oh, right

                                        Does US even have the workforce to go full native ? like these tarrifs are high for a nation which was the heaven for companys or start ups......this is gonna change the flow of how much resource you need to even think about starting somthing and lets not forget the S&P of USA companys which is one of the highest in the world......this was too much and too sudden its not gonna fix anything in 4 to 6 years lets be honest maybe in 6 to 10 years.........i would recommand everyone to buy a phone this year (lets be honest this year is the peak for phone era so no complains about what to buy almost 90% of any flagships are awsome)

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