Apple has always faced criticism for its pricing and this hasn’t deterred them from raising the price of its products every single year. Now, in what may spell as bad news for those looking to upgrade, an Apple lobbyist has warned that tariffs on Chinese products will have a major impact.
As per a report by CultofMac, Sage Chandler, of the Consumer Technology Association states that President Donald Trump’s projected import tariffs will raise the price of consumer products such as the iPhone and MacBook catastrophically.
The report states that Trump’s administration has proposed adding tariffs on an extra USD 300 billion of Chinese imports. This may happen as soon as July 2, 2019, if the United States and China don’t reach a mutual agreement. He claims that tech gadgets will suffer the biggest blow as they represent about USD 167 billion worth of products that may be affected.
Speaking at the US Trade Representative’s office, Chandler said that tariffs could cost the increase of mobile phones to rise by an average of USD 70. The cost of a laptop could increase to as much as USD 120.
Speaking to Reuters, Chandler said, “A lot of consumers will look at that and say: ‘I’ll just wait for the next generation. That’s a lot of money for the average consumer.”
To reduce the blow of Chinese tariffs, Apple has asked manufacturers to look beyond China. Foxconn has already confirmed that they are able to produce iPhones manufactured for the US outside of China. This will be one way that Apple could use to offset impending tariffs.
The Consumer Technology Association represents brands such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Intel. Under current Apple’s CEO Tim Cook’s reign, Apple’s lobbying efforts have increased drastically in comparison to its leadership under Steve Jobs. As an example, in 2009, Apple spent a mere USD 1.5 million lobbying Congress and last year this figure rose to USD 6.6 million. With this being said, Apple doesn’t spend as much as its FAANG counterparts.
