Trump says Apple won’t get tariff waivers for Mac Pro parts

President Trump said in a tweet this morning that his administration will not allow Apple to avoid tariffs on Mac Pro parts, after the company requested exemptions earlier this month.

As part of an ongoing trade battle with China, the Trump administration has proposed stiff tariffs on imports from China. The list of proposed goods includes electronics, potentially hitting Apple with tariff increases as high as 25 percent.

Earlier this month, Apple filed requests with the Office of the US Trade Representative, asking for some parts to be excluded from the planned tariffs. While the filings did not explicitly mention the Mac Pro, Bloomberg reported last week that the descriptions in the filings matched up with parts for the desktop computer. Apple recently moved its manufacturing of the Mac Pro to China from the United States.

Trump seems to have jumped ahead of a decision from the Office of the US Trade Representative, writing in a tweet that Apple will not receive any exemptions.

“Apple will not be given Tariff wavers, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China,” Trump wrote. “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!”

An Apple spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple has narrowly avoided previous Trump administration tariffs on some of its devices, including the Apple Watch and AirPods. The tech industry as a whole has pushed Trump to avoid tariffs that could damage the bottom line of American electronics makers.

[“source=theverge”]