Trump and Cook Friday Meeting: Trade War, Tariffs, and Samsung

Friday night dinner wasn’t that calm for the President of the US and Apple CEO. As Bloomberg reported, the leader of the Big Tech was concerned about tariffs which will come into force on the 1st of September and the company will have to level up prices for some gadgets, including accessories lineup - Apple Watch, AirPods, and other goods.

The crucial point is that Apple products are manufactured in China and further on are imported to the United States and other world countries. So when the parcel of goods marked “Apple” crosses the American border, the additional levy is added.

Meanwhile, the technical components and hardware details for Samsung devices are produced on factories of several different countries – South Korea, Vietnam, and China. Thus, the import tariff for Samsung products won’t be much significant for the South Korean giant.

It must be sad enough for Apple Inc. to accept this unfair truth, in respect for the company is originally from the USA, unlike Samsung. But facts are stubborn.

“It’s tough for Apple to pay tariffs if it’s competing with a very good company that’s not,” noted Trump.

Donald Trump also admitted that Apple’s competing with Samsung is a “good case” and Tim Cook “made a very compelling argument” when bothering about the tariff issue.

Even though iPhone, Mac laptops, and iPad tablets will be subject to tax only in December, the situation remains disadvantageous for Apple. The upcoming release of the new smartphone and other updates are planned for the second decade of September while Samsung had already released the latest gadgets and packed stores with devices.