Apple Worried About Price Hikes Due to US-China Trade War

• Apple has written a letter to the US Trade Representative pointing out concerns due to the imposed tariffs on goods imported from China.
• Most Apple consumer products are likely to increase in prices if the new tariffs come into effect.
• Due to this trade war, China could also retaliate and impose restrictions on Apple's component suppliers.

We know that the Office of the US Trade Representative is ready to levy tariffs on US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods back in June. This has led to an on-going trade war of sorts between the US and China. While we'll not get into the pros and cons of that decision, Apple apparently is miffed at the fact that most of its consumer products will be hit due to the increase in import taxes.

In a letter addressed to the US Trade Representative, Apple says that the increased tariffs would increase the cost of Apple products as customers would have to pay more tax than normal. The letter lists many Apple products including the Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, Beats headphones, input devices, logic boards, memory modules, MacBook components, PCBs, testing equipment, and more. The Cupertino-giant also argues that the proposed tariffs could turn out to be worse for the US than China. Interestingly, the letter does not mention the iPhone, iPad or the Mac computers.

China is one of Apple's most lucrative market with the company having close to 40 Apple Stores in the country and over 40 million iPhone shipments. The escalation of the trade-war between US and China could mean that the latter would want to impose restrictions on Apple's component suppliers or in the worst case, ban Apple products altogether. Apple's rivals such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, however, seem somewhat insulated as their Chinese business is relatively small.

The full letter from Apple to the Trump Administration can be viewed here. While the letter lists each Apple component that would be impacted, some of the components appear to have been redacted in the public version of the letter implying that these could be for future Apple products.

What do you think about the ongoing trade war between the US and China and Apple's concerns? Let us know in the comments below. Also, to get instant tech updates, follow TechNadu’s Facebook page, and Twitter handle.