President Donald Trump made another phone call with Apple CEO Tim Cook after the US administration announced a new tariff deal with China on Monday, May 12. This conversation is part of a regular communication between Trump and the boss of the United States' most valuable technology company, although it is not clear the real results of these conversations apart from keeping Apple on the "good list".
This latest tariff agreement comes amid a trade war that has been considered random and economically detrimental. Apple will actually still be affected by tariffs with a potential loss of US$900 million (Rp19.8 trillion) in June. However, that impact is now likely less thanks to the easing of tariffs from China.
Citing a report from CNBC, Trump said that he had spoken by telephone with Tim Cook after announcing the tariff change. He did not provide details on the contents of the conversation, but only said that Cook would "balance the numbers."
This statement is still difficult to understand for sure. It could be that what Apple means will not suffer a full loss of 900 million US dollars in the June quarter, even though the loss will not go away completely. The current rate is still around 10% to 30%, depending on the type of item figure which is still much higher than the era before Trump took office.
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There is also the possibility that Trump is referring to Apple's $500 billion investment in manufacturing infrastructure in the United States, which may start providing returns. Even so, returns from such a large investment will not be visible in the near future, it could even take more than a decade.
Trump's statement could also be related to the price of the iPhone that was considered to increase due to the tariff. With a rate of "only" 10%, Apple may choose to bear some losses rather than impose them on consumers, something that is impossible to do if the tariff reaches 145%.
However, Apple is not yet completely safe. The new rates for semiconductors are still in the drafting stage by the Trump administration. The changing uncertainty of economic policy makes it difficult for many parties to predict policy directions in the next three months, even in the next three days.
Fortunately, Apple has huge cash reserves and is enough to survive the uncertain situation over the years. Tim Cook's call to President Trump seems to be part of his business strategy: playing Trump's ego happy with personal interactions, such as telephones or dinners, with big company leaders as a form of good faith.
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