Apple's Tariff Tradeoff: Raise Phone Prices or Suffer Margin Hit
- IPhones could get more expensive, or company could absorb cost
- White House charm offensive by CEO protected marquee product
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For more than a year, Apple Inc. avoided major damage from the U.S. trade war with China, thanks in part to a White House charm offensive by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. But the company now faces its first major hit -- from both sides of the dispute.
A new round of tariffs proposed by the U.S. on Monday includes mobile phones, meaning the iPhone, Apple’s most-important product that is made almost entirely in China, may be encumbered with a 25% import levy. There are other products on the list that would affect Apple too, such as laptops and tablets.