No need to run to the Apple Store after all. The iPhone and other major electronics were spared President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”—including 125 percent import levies on China—in an opaque notice from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Friday.
Although Trump denied on Sunday that the notice left anybody “off the hook” and said, via Truth Social, that the “the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN” would be subject to a new “bucket” of tariffs, it’s nevertheless the case that electronics made in China are, for the moment, subject “only” to 20 percent tariffs.
It’s anyone’s guess where the tariffs will be next week, let alone in three months. The uncertainty this causes for businesses and consumers is galling. Were Apple to issue a revenue warning based on the tariff risk, what numbers would it use in their calculations? The administration’s policies are creating such whiplash that Apple could just as plausibly raise revenue guidance this quarter as American consumers rush to buy iPhones on fears of higher prices and product shortages.