Donald Trump - page 2

Apple seeks tariff waivers for key product lines

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A future Apple Watch might be able to alert you that you’re breathing poison.
Apple wants relief from Trump's tariffs on Apple Watch and other products imported from China.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple requested exemptions for the import taxes it must pay when bringing many of its products from China. Currently, the Trump administration levies these on Apple Watch, AirPods, iMac and more.

These tariffs went into place in September as Apple got caught up in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Rudy Giuliani needed Genius Bar’s help to unlock his iPhone

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Giuliani
Giuliani doesn't know how to wear AirPods either.
Photo: Rick Wilson/Twitter

Despite being named Donald Trump’s cybersecurity expert in 2017, Rudy Giuliani is so clueless about tech, he had to go to the Apple Store genius bar for help unlocking his iPhone.

Leaked internal documents from Apple reveal that just a few weeks after being tapped as Trump’s top cyber guy, Giuliani waited in front of a San Francisco Apple store with a very pressing issue: he had forgotten his passcode and couldn’t unlock his iPhone.

Former Apple designer responds to Trump’s iPhone critique

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Trump: Not a fan of Apple's decision to ditch the Home button, apparently.
Photo: White House

As an iPhone UI designer, you need to have a thick skin. First, you have to defend your idea internally at Apple. Then members of the public endlessly critique your work upon its release. The one thing you probably don’t expect, though? For the president of the United States to slam your painstaking creation.

That’s exactly what happened to former Apple user interface prototyping team member Linda Dong. In a Sunday tweet, she commented on President Donald Trump’s recent declaration about the iPhone X interface.

France will let Apple, other tech giants deduct digital tax

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Apple France tax
Apple's tax bill in France will be deductible.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

An agreement between the United States and France will take some of the sting out of a French digital tax on wealthy tech companies like Apple, according to an announcement today that closed the G7 Summit.

In July, France enacted a 3% tax on revenues earned on digital services in the country. The tax hits any foreign company making more than $25 million in digital revenue in France. This prompted President Donald Trump to threaten the U.S. ally with tariffs on French wine.

Tim Cook has Trump on speed dial

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President Trump: Apple encryption could protect ‘criminal minds’
Tim Cook has no problem picking up the iPhone to call President Trump.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

President Donald Trump and Tim Apple, err, Tim Cook are BFFs. Well, according to Trump at least.

Describing Cook as a “great executive,” Trump says the Apple CEO isn’t afraid to pick up the phone and call whenever there’s something on his mind. “He calls me, and others don’t,” Trump said, comparing Cook to other execs.

Trump admits his tariffs could give Samsung an advantage over Apple

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump appear to have a good working relationship.
Photo: White House

During a Friday-night dinner with Donald Trump, Apple CEO Tim Cook very nearly convinced the president that import taxes planned for iPhone and other products would benefit Samsung.

Apple will pay proposed tariffs on products imported from China, while Korea-based Samsung — Cupertino’s chief competitor — will not.

Trump’s iPhone tariff reprieve is great news for Apple investors

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Samsung wants to follow Apple in building a giant services business
Apple stock had a great day this week.
Photo: Mathieu Turle/Unsplash CC

Apple and its suppliers soared on the news that the iPhone would not be hit by tariffs in President Trump’s ongoing trade skirmish with China.

AAPL reached as high as $209.90 Tuesday. It started the day hovering around $200. That’s an increase of around 4.2%. Meanwhile, suppliers in Japan enjoyed a good trading day Wednesday. Some stocks jumped as up 6%.

AirPods won’t escape Trump’s tariffs this time

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Bluetooth in iOS 11
Apple will have to pay import taxes on AirPods starting next month.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Not all Apple devices will escape the taxes being levied next month on goods imported from China. The Trump Administration decided to delay tariffs on iPhone, iPad and Mac, but other popular products will still get slapped with a 10% import tax, including Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePod

Trump delays tariffs on iPhone, Mac and iPad

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iPad and iPhone tariffs aren't happening. Yet.
You won’t have to pay extra for an iPad imported from China next month.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Shares of Apple jumped over 4% after iPhones were removed from the list of items that will be hit with import taxes at the beginning of September.

However, tariffs could still go into effect for phones, Macs, and other Apple products in mid December.

China tariffs may not make iPhones more expensive for customers

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iPhone XS Max
Ming-Chi Kuo thinks Apple will absorb the cost of increased import duties.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Don’t panic: the introduction of new import tariffs by President Trump isn’t going to make the next iPhone even more expensive!

That’s the message from reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In his latest note to client, Kuo says that he thinks Apple will absorb the cost of any tariffs, rather than pass them on to customers.

Trump tariffs could drop iPhone sales 20%

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iPhone 11R and 11 Max on wooden railing
Demand for the iPhone 11 could drop significantly if Apple raises its cost to offset new import taxes imposed by Pres. Trump.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

No matter what President Trump keeps insisting, his upcoming tariffs on all Apple products will be paid for either by the company or by Americans who buy iPhones, iPads and Macs.

A market-analysis firm warns that If Apple chooses to pass the cost of these import taxes onto its customers, sales of iPhone could drop 20%.

Trump slaps 10% tariff on iPhone imports from China

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President Trump: Apple encryption could protect ‘criminal minds’
Trump may have just raised the price of the 2019 iPhone.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

The iPhone is about to be caught in President Trump’s trade war with China. A month from today, the US will begin charging a 10% tax to import iPhone, iPad, and other devices. They are part of $300 billion dollars worth of imports getting new tariffs.

Trump’s decision caused a 2.0% drop in Apple’s share price.

5 key things to watch for in Apple’s most boring earnings report of 2019

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Earnings call
Apple's Q1 2020 earnings report will probably break some records.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The most yawn-inducing Apple earnings call of the year is just days away, and Wall Street is eagerly anticipating the results — though maybe for reasons you wouldn’t expect.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are scheduled to hop on the phone with investors at 2 p.m. Pacific next Tuesday for Apple’s Q3 2019 earnings call. Even though Apple doesn’t reveal quarterly sales for iPhones anymore, there are a lot of metrics to look for that could clue us in on how well or poorly the company is performing lately.

Keep an ear out for these five things during Apple’s July 30 earnings call.

Trump: Apple won’t receive special treatment for Mac Pro parts

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Mac Pro cheese grater
You might be better off with iMac Pro instead.
Photo: Apple

President Donald Trump said Friday that Apple will not receive special treatment for Mac Pro components made in China.

Apple submitted multiple requests asking the Trump administration to exclude certain Mac Pro parts from a 25% import tariff. But Trump says the U.S. government will not extend any special waivers or relief to Cupertino.

“Make them in the USA,” Trump tweeted.

Apple asks Trump administration to spare Mac Pro parts from tariffs

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Macpro
The Mac Pro is an expensive beast.
Photo: Apple

Apple submitted multiple requests to the Trump administration asking that the government exclude Mac Pro parts from a 25% import tariff.

Production of the Mac Pro moved to China this year as Apple moves on from the “trash can” Mac Pro design manufactured in Austin, Texas. In nearly all 15 of its filings, Apple says there are no other sources for the proprietary, Apple-designed components.

Trump ‘concerned’ about French law targeting Apple and other tech giants

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Trump is worried French tax law could hurt tech giants including Apple.
Photo: White House

President Donald Trump is stepping up to defend Apple. Well, kind of.

The president ordered an investigation into France’s planned tax on big tech companies like Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon. The Office of the United States Trade Representative said the tax “unfairly targets” American companies.

Update 1: France passed the tax Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse: “The legislation — dubbed the GAFA tax in an acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon — was passed by a simple show of hands in the Senate upper house after it was agreed by the National Assembly lower chamber earlier this month.”

Trump can’t block protesters from his Twitter, court says

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President Trump Twitter
Pres. Trump’s Twitter account can’t be just praise. He has to accept criticism too.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A federal appeals court ruled today that President Donald Trump can’t block dissenters from posting replies to his Twitter account.

This upholds an earlier ruling that Trump’s account is a public forum, and therefore preventing anyone from speaking is a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution

Apple moves Mac Pro production to China

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Mac Pro
No longer made in the USA.
Photo: Apple

The only Apple device that is produced in the U.S. is about to have its manufacturing operations moved overseas.

Apple reportedly plans to make its expensive new Mac Pro in China according to a new report that claims an assembly partner has already been lined up. The previous “trash can” Mac Pro was made at an Apple facility in Austin, Texas where the company also has a software engineering hub.

End in sight for damaging trade war with China

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Activist shareholders push Apple on why it booted Hong Kong protest app
Trump’s trade war with China is bad business for Apple.
Photo: Fredrik Rubensson/Flickr CC

The burgeoning trade war with China has caused Apple no end of headaches. But an end could be in sight, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Speaking with CNBC, Mnuchin said that the U.S. and China have a “path to complete this.” He notes that both parties were “90% of the way there” during previous talks, before discussions broke down.

Apple warns U.S. tariffs would hurt its global competitiveness

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Activist shareholders push Apple on why it booted Hong Kong protest app
Activist shareholders push Apple on why it booted Hong Kong protest app
Photo: Fredrik Rubensson/Flickr CC

Apple warned U.S. trade representatives this week that President Donald Trump’s plan to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods will negatively impact its contributions to the U.S. economy.

In a letter written to U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, Apple urged the government not to impose tariffs. The new set of tariffs would make Apple’s products more expensive and give Apple’s competitors an advantage.

Trump and Tim Cook go face-to-face to talk US trade policy

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Tim Cook and Donald Trump at one of their earlier meetings.
Photo: White House

Apple’s CEO quietly made a visit to the White House today, where Tim Cook met with Pres. Trump to discuss trade and other matters.

The tax Trump is threatening to put on all Apple’s imports from China as part of his ongoing trade war has to have been prominent.

Trump talks tech giants’ alleged monopoly

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
President Trump speaking with Tim Cook.
Photo: White House

The United States should follow the European Union’s lead and investigate Silicon Valley tech giants monopoly-like powers, President Donald Trump says.

Speaking with CNBC, Trump said “something’s going on” when it comes to the concentrated power of today’s tech titans. By fining these companies, he says that the EU gets “all this money — we should be doing that [too.]”

Trump’s Huawei ban could wind up hurting Apple, too

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Chinese company Huawei wants the media buzz that would come with releasing the world's first foldable phone.
President Trump announced his attack on Huawei on Wednesday.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

A ban on China’s Huawei company by the White House could wind up hurting Apple, concerned analysts claim.

President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans Wednesday to ban technology and services of “foreign adversaries” that pose “unacceptable risks.” But possible Chinese retaliation against major U.S. companies could hit Apple hard.

Trump’s tariffs may increase iPhone prices by 14%

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Photo: White House

Apple may soon be forced to raise iPhone prices if Donald Trump’s latest round of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports goes into effect.

Trump wants to slap tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. The Office of U.S. Trade Representative began the approval process this week. Those tariffs could go into effect by June 24 and if that happens, some analysts predict Apple will raise iPhone prices by 14% or more to offset the costs.

Apple share price hit by renewed China trade tensions

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Hong Kong police arrest smugglers with $1 million of iPhones and other devices
Proposed trade tariffs have had a big impact on Apple's share price.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Concerns about the U.S.’s trading relationship with China is hitting Apple shares.

AAPL’s share price has been steadily sliding since President Donald Trump took to Twitter to talk trading tariffs. It’s currently trading at $189.15, down from its high of $211.75 earlier this month.