Over the week, the Trump administration introduced a set of exemptions for its tariffs imposed on merchandise imported into the US from China. The exemptions cowl product classes like smartphones and laptops, giving Apple an enormous reprieve for the iPhone, Mac, and extra. In feedback earlier this week, Trump bragged about how he “helped” Apple with these exemptions.
A brand new report from The Washington Publish dives into the inside workings of the Trump administration, significantly as they relate to Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner.
In line with the report, Prepare dinner spoke to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick final week “concerning the potential impression of the tariffs on iPhone costs.” Along with Lutnick, he additionally spoke with “different senior officers within the White Home.” Maybe most significantly, Prepare dinner “avoided publicly criticizing the president or his insurance policies on nationwide tv.”
Wilbur Ross, commerce secretary throughout Trump’s first time period, stated it’s unsurprising that the present administration has been receptive to Prepare dinner’s recommendations:
“Tim has an excellent relationship with the president and rightly so. He has been enjoying a really cautious function in that he clearly has an enormous dependency on China however can also be vastly essential to the U.S. Normally, he has lots of respect as a result of he’s not a public whiner, he’s not a crybaby, however comes with the true voice of actuality. It’s no shock to me that his recommendations are being properly obtained.”
Right here’s one other tidbit on Trump and Prepare dinner’s relationship from at this time’s report:
Prepare dinner joined different tech executives in personally giving greater than $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, and folks near the president say he respects the Apple chief. When enterprise capitalist Marc Andreessen first met Trump at his membership in Bedminster, New Jersey, final yr, the president-elect requested him what he considered Prepare dinner, based on a separate particular person aware of the dinner, who additionally spoke on the situation of anonymity to explain personal talks. Andreessen responded that he was impressed by Prepare dinner’s management of the iPhone maker. Trump agreed, and informed Andreessen that he appreciated how Prepare dinner met with him straight with no intermediaries, which has not been beforehand reported.
However whereas Apple has gained a reprieve from tariffs, that peace of thoughts is likely to be momentary. In an interview on Sunday, Lutnick stated that the exemption from the reciprocal tariff isn’t a “everlasting type of exemption” and a broader plan shall be introduced “in a month or two.”
Comply with Likelihood: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and Mastodon.
FTC: We use revenue incomes auto affiliate hyperlinks. Extra.
