Trump demands Apple make iPhones in the US or face a 25% tariff

[DrSuess]

Not American, but I don’t know why so many Americans here (presumably anyway) think it’s so far-fetched that a product such as the iPhone be manufactured domestically.

It wasn’t so long ago that many such tech products, including Apple’s, were manufactured in the US.

This article claims it would be unfeasible to do Stateside, but Apple was already looking to India and Vietnam. Is nobody in favor of paying a liveable wage to have domestic industry? How much of the price of the phone is actually labor? We can do component BOM pricing and guesstimate can we not?

This is why you think that. As a previous article pointed out the iPhone has 260 different vendors located all over the world, most of which are subject to tariffs. Imagine importing all of those components with tariffs, having a physical manufacturing plant (very expensive), union workers @ $30+/hr, medical benefits and retirement benefits (very expensive). And then trying to sell an iPhone for $1200, the company would lose money at those prices. They would lose money at $2500.

Pretty much all manufacturing is expensive in the US this is why Apple and other left the US in the first place cost is to high, complying with state and federal environmental laws can be expensive, union contract negotiation are expensive.

Importing an iPhone at 25% or even 50% would be a better bargain then one built solely in the US.

For context in one US state several counties have designated a $100,000 USD salary as low wage.

 

[J spot]

What a load of!
At the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, Ukraine and Georgia were told in no uncertain terms they have no path to membership in the foreseeable future. Few months later Russia invaded Georgia.

That’s not quite how it went down. At the 2008 Bucharest Summit (April), NATO didn't tell Ukraine and Georgia they had 'no path to membership.' The official declaration was that Ukraine and Georgia 'will become members of NATO.' This was a clear statement, and Russia immediately warned it was a 'huge strategic mistake' that would have 'most serious consequences.'

Even before that summit, in February 2008, US Ambassador to Russia William Burns sent a confidential cable to Condoleezza Rice titled 'Nyet means Nyet: Russia’s NATO Enlargement Redlines.' He emphasized that 'Ukraine and Georgia's NATO aspirations not only touch a raw nerve in Russia, they engender serious concerns about the consequences for stability in the region.'

So, when Russia moved into Georgia a few months after NATO's Bucharest declaration, it wasn't unprovoked. It was a direct reaction to NATO explicitly promising membership and thus crossing Russia's clearly communicated red lines.

NATO was indeed provoking, and the outcome was, as many observed, predictable for the Georgia conflict in 2008.

 

[Jim Lahey]

This is why you think that. As a previous article pointed out the iPhone has 260 different vendors located all over the world, most of which are subject to tariffs. Imagine importing all of those components with tariffs, having a physical manufacturing plant (very expensive), union workers @ $30+/hr, medical benefits and retirement benefits (very expensive). And then trying to sell an iPhone for $1200, the company would lose money at those prices. They would lose money at $2500.

Pretty much all manufacturing is expensive in the US this is why Apple and other left the US in the first place cost is to high, complying with state and federal environmental laws can be expensive, union contract negotiation are expensive.

Importing an iPhone at 25% or even 50% would be a better bargain then one built solely in the US.

For context in one US state several counties have designated a $100,000 USD salary as low wage.

Will it cost more, yes, but I am old enough to have lived through the transition of global manufacturing and the flight into China.

Virtually all of the products as they migrated to offshore, stayed the same price (appliances, televisions, clothes, tech and automotive components) and the consumer saw little to no benefit in terms of price, while most items declined substantially in quality and durability.

I don’t think that it is impossible to build a large portion of these items domestically in the US, Germany/EU or Canada/Australia and maintain a reasonable standard of living for the blue collar and working class. We used to do it - yes many supply chains will take time to adjust, but it’s not cheap to ship in manufactured goods either, so transportation costs could decrease depending where you live.

Maybe I’m wrong - I’m not ashamed to admit I only have limited knowledge in these areas, but I think a lot of western nations need to reboot their manufacturing sectors.

 

[TooQik]

Probably another attempt by Trump to crash the stocks so he and his "mates" can buy low.

 

[sdms96825]

What the Hell did the Wharton School of Business teach Trump anyway?

 

[OortCloud]

I hate the Trump administration - they are a poisonous bunch of corrupt human-horrors - but putting Apple and the reptile that is Tim Cook in his box is hard not to smile at.

 

[DukeJukem]

Free market, lol. There is a name for a governing approach where a single politicians tells corporations what they have to do or face consequences.

You mean like the EU forcing usb-c on apple? their right to repair stuff? their handling of the monopoly that is google? nobody seems to care about these types of things yet they fall under the same category of what you're describing but oh no mr orange man is telling timothy to make phoney phone at home.

laughable.

 

[DukeJukem]

Its such an about face of the rhetoric during Obama and Biden's admin that if you didn't already know they were projecting you'd think 77 million people had straight up lost their minds.

apparently nobody likes that rhetoric anymore, whatever that was.

 

[DukeJukem]

Probably another attempt by Trump to crash the stocks so he and his "mates" can buy low.

that's a stupid point considering if stock prices are low you can also buy...genius.

 

[DukeJukem]

So Trump is now worse than a Democrat, he is actually a Communist.
The MAGA Cultural Revolution continues.

ah so you're implying a democrat has one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel when it comes to being a communist eh? I don't think that admittance would happen if orange man weren't in office.

 

[DukeJukem]

I'm about to purchase an island and introduce a new tariff on every piece of bullsh#*t that comes out of this dumb c#*ts mouth to my island population of 15,000.

Seriously this guy is as dumb as they f#*k-ing come! You can't make every component in an iPhone anywhere in the world in 1 place

You can assemble it in the U.S.a. but those skilled workers gonna be hard to come by and they'll cost ya too! In the U.S.a. greed is god and that is affecting their ability to manufacture competitively around the world.

Like someone had said already on TechSPOT U.S.a. shot themselves in the foot with manufacture decades ago when they actually did make a lot in house.

Why did that kid try to assassinate him.. I would've shot him in the arse

"in the US greed is god" so who's more greedy here? is it the company (apple) who outsources all of their labor, literal slave labor that pays basically no money and then flip that $100 they spent manufacturing a single phone and turn it into $1200? or is it the orange man that's saying that tim is a piece of trash with enough money and he can bring it all back home or cry?

pretty sure it's the fruit man and not the orange man who's being greedy here but keep your mindset. your mindset is the entire reason why when you need to call customer service, you can't understand who you're speaking to. keep it up.

 

[TooQik]

that's a stupid point considering if stock prices are low you can also buy...genius.

Way to miss the point entirely. It's not about people being able to buy stocks at low prices, it's about stock market manipulation done by someone in a position of power who is only looking after his own interests, not your country's, and definitely not your's.

 

[amstech]

It has been humourous watching conservatives/Republicans making *****s of themselves, turning on the dime for big government regulations, anti-free market policies, federal police kicking in doors and kidnapping people, free speech against a genocide punished, and private institutions targeted for not obeying the President's orders (and more!).

Its such an about face of the rhetoric during Obama and Biden's admin that if you didn't already know they were projecting you'd think 77 million people had straight up lost their minds.

Your TDS is showing. Corporations moved overseas to pay their employees less. If you do that now, you pay for it. Its simple and Trump was right about everything. Cry on little baby.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Your TDS is showing. Corporations moved overseas to pay their employees less. If you do that now, you pay for it. Its simple and Trump was right about everything. Cry on little baby.

-Your TDS is showing. Now Corpos will either need to offshore more to reduce costs to absorb the tariffs, Americans will simply have to pay for the increased cost in goods, or Americans will have to work in sweatshops for $4/hr to keep the price even remotely sane.

Jesus do Trumpers even realize they're in a cult?

 

[GodisanAtheist]

apparently nobody likes that rhetoric anymore, whatever that was.

-Enjoy your Tariffs buddy

 

[brucek]

If Trump wants phones made for the US to cost 25% more than phones everywhere else, that's a choice he could make, although this would be a pure tax on Americans with no offsetting benefits. It would lead to no new manufacturing in the US, no new jobs, no increased national security, no anything else because 25% is a dirt cheap bargain compared to the cost of trying to recreate decades of tech-related manufacturing ecosystem that doesn't exist here all at once, if it were even an option at all, which its not.

If he actually wanted to get something done he would start finding incentives to begin the long process of building up new or lost capabilities here, which there is justification for even at some additional cost. But him focusing on iPhones at 25% would be me like my flabby out-of-shape middle-age self starting my new fitness regime with free climbing at Yosemite.

But it doesn't matter, because this all about headlines and catering to a base, not about actually managing important developments.

 

[BogdanR]

ah so you're implying a democrat has one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel when it comes to being a communist eh? I don't think that admittance would happen if orange man weren't in office.

Whatever you were smoking when you typed the above, is not the good stuff.

 

[amghwk]

Too bad, the whole world is dancing to his tunes and not a single leader is standing up against this bully who is trying to control the world economy. The gains are NOT for the Americans, mind you, but for him and his close corporate billionaire associates.

Standing up in the sense, to say f-k off with your tariffs.

 

[tragicallyhip]

Manufacturing them in the US would cause retail pricing to jump 35% so a 25% tariff is a good deal, tell Trump to get stuffed.

 

[Xelions]

"in the US greed is god" so who's more greedy here? is it the company (apple) who outsources all of their labor, literal slave labor that pays basically no money and then flip that $100 they spent manufacturing a single phone and turn it into $1200? or is it the orange man that's saying that tim is a piece of trash with enough money and he can bring it all back home or cry?

pretty sure it's the fruit man and not the orange man who's being greedy here but keep your mindset. your mindset is the entire reason why when you need to call customer service, you can't understand who you're speaking to. keep it up.

They both are to an extent greedy. I would bring back jobs to the U.S.a. that you can, eg customer support, whether phone, chat or ticket based but assembly lines or component manufacturing - good f#*king luck. I'm talking Apple specific here, and there may be more you could bring back too after a thorough review. With AI looming even customer service is in danger of being replaced. So it's a potential risk.

I just think his approach to bringing back manufacturing is a mess. Foreign ownership of companies is a massive problem which he should be attacking - I remem a doco on glass, called American Factory. It was crazy cause the Asian (*not all) mindset doesn't give a **** about human life, that's the way I saw it. When you own a company you have to be content with returns and not want more, and that's a big problem - the driving force is money and greed.

As for slavery, I've looked at this extensively and it's everywhere, like everywhere!! And yeh I'm pissed but I can't solve or even present reasonable solutions to that issue, cause we live in a capitalist society that is far worse than 20,30,40 years ago.

 

[netman]

"Trump demands Apple make iPhones in the US or face a 25% tariff"

I will quit buying iPhone if it is made in US...!

 

[BogdanR]

That’s not quite how it went down. At the 2008 Bucharest Summit (April), NATO didn't tell Ukraine and Georgia they had 'no path to membership.' The official declaration was that Ukraine and Georgia 'will become members of NATO.' This was a clear statement, and Russia immediately warned it was a 'huge strategic mistake' that would have 'most serious consequences.'

Even before that summit, in February 2008, US Ambassador to Russia William Burns sent a confidential cable to Condoleezza Rice titled 'Nyet means Nyet: Russia’s NATO Enlargement Redlines.' He emphasized that 'Ukraine and Georgia's NATO aspirations not only touch a raw nerve in Russia, they engender serious concerns about the consequences for stability in the region.'

So, when Russia moved into Georgia a few months after NATO's Bucharest declaration, it wasn't unprovoked. It was a direct reaction to NATO explicitly promising membership and thus crossing Russia's clearly communicated red lines.

NATO was indeed provoking, and the outcome was, as many observed, predictable for the Georgia conflict in 2008.

My mistake. You’re talking about the US’s position and I was talking about France and Germany’s (and not only). This is how it went down (article in Euractiv.)

“EU divisions were apparent on the eve of the NATO summit in Bucharest on 2-4 April with several heavyweights, including France, opposed to the planned Eastern expansion of the military alliance. EURACTIV Romania contributed to this report from Bucharest.

US president George W. Bush, visiting Kiev just before the summit, stated that he would act in favour of the inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia in the Membership Action Plan (MAP), thus opening the door to NATO membership without guaranteeing it.

Several EU heavyweights (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium) are opposed to such a project.

In the meantime, several representatives of the new EU members expressed their support for opening the NATO door to Kiev and Tbilisi.

President Bush said today (2 April) during his Bucharest speech that Romanian people have "looked evil in the eye" and transformed their country from a communist dictatorship into a free nation and a NATO member, suggesting that the young democracies Ukraine and Georgia deserve the same chance.

"My country's position is clear: NATO should welcome Georgia and Ukraine into the Membership Action Plan. And, NATO membership must remain open to all of Europe's democracies that seek it, and are ready to share in the responsibilities of NATO membership," he said.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said that President Nicolas Sarkozy would oppose the idea at the Summit in Bucharest. "France is not green-lighting Ukraine and Georgia's accession. Paris has a different opinion to that of the US on the matter", Fillon told France Inter Radio, quoted by Rompres.

Russia voiced its opinion on Tuesday, with deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin warning that the prospect of Ukraine's NATO membership would create a profound crisis between Kiev and Moscow, with a negative impact on the security of Europe.

But Russia's Special Representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin dismissed US ambitions to include Ukraine and Georgia in the MAP as unrealistic.

Speaking to Dziennik, Mr. Rogozin said: "As far as I know NATO, and the people who work there - I don't think they will take such a decision. The US is very much in favour, but Bush is leaving soon and he will not take responsibility for the consequences of such an action. Those who will remain will be confronted with the issue. Therefore I don't think there will be any MAP".”

Russia turned around and attacked Georgia knowing full well that no country with an active conflict / dispute will be granted access. They did the same with Ukraine.

All in all Russia shouldn’t dictate what an independent country does. Ukraine and Georgia and all the rest of the USSR republics are not vassal states.