Trump calls on Apple to move production from China to US

“It’s time to stop”.

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There’s no final decision on that round of tariffs as the U.S. Trade Representative’s office continues to “run their process”, White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said on Friday.

In it, Apple says the proposed tariffs would “cover a wide range of Apple products” as well as other materials that Apple uses to make its products. According to Intel, the tariffs will also threaten to slow the country’s 5G rollout by increasing the costs for telecommunication providers to upgrade to the faster networks.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One on September 7, 2018.

According to a report in The Verge, Apple asked that the United States revise its proposal and decline to place tariffs on the product categories that cover these devices. He added that he’s ready to place yet another round of tariffs on $267 billion in Chinese goods after that – bringing the total imports from China subject to tariffs to more than $500 billion.

But businesses warn there are other ways China can strike back, through regulations and other administrative means, or even through sales of its large holdings of US Treasury debt.

US-CHINA TENSIONS: The Trump administration may impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods, after a public comment period ended Thursday.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of imports from China, mostly equipment and material used by manufacturers.

The booming labor market and the strong economy, ironically, may be enabling risky trade policy, by propping up stocks that would be sending more alarming signals if the economy were weaker. If that pace continued for the remainder of this year, Chinese imports would top $548 billion – leaving Trump a bit short of complete coverage of Chinese goods.

US financial markets were little moved by the data. Two days of talks in Washington in August failed to yield a breakthrough following three rounds of unsuccessful talks earlier in the year, dimming hopes of a compromise.

In addition, the chip industry is a source of trade surplus for the USA, including with China, Intel argued.

In its letter, Apple argued that the way USA trade officials calculate the US trade balance – attributing the entire value of a product to a country like China where final assembly happens – fails to reflect the true value that Apple generates in the United States.

“If these tariffs go into effect, (China) may have to cushion the economy by devaluing its currency again”, said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.