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Deal between the U.S. and China gives the Apple iPhone a temporary reprieve from tariffs

By Alan Friedman

Published: Dec 02, 2018, 11:45 PM

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Deal between the U.S. and China gives the Apple iPhone a temporary reprieve from tariffs

Last week, President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he was considering imposing tariffs on mobile phones imported from China to the U.S., including the Apple iPhone. Trump, who happens to be an iPhone user himself (he actually has a pair at his disposal 24/7), was quoted in the Journal as saying that U.S. consumers would be able to financially handle a 10% tariff on the iPhone.

As reported by Business Insider, this weekend Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a 90 day truce on the imposition of new tariffs. This means that the U.S. will hold off on taxing $200 billion of Chinese imports that was originally expected to take effect on January 1st. This group does not include the iPhone, the Apple Watch or AirPods. Those items are part of a group of $267 billion in additional imports from China that Trump was thinking about taxing.

As part of the deal, China agreed to lower the country's trade surplus with the U.S. by purchasing a "not yet agreed upon, but very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, industrial" and other products from the U.S. If no trade agreement can be reached between the U.S. and China within the 90 days, the tariffs will be imposed on the $200 billion of Chinese imports and could go into effect on the remaining $267 billion of Chinese imports that include the iPhone and other Apple devices.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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