Clarifying Apple’s tariff exposure

When Apple’s Tim Cook said tariffs would cost $900 million this quarter, it brought on some confusion. Weren’t Apple devices exempted, after all?

With the 145% tariffs imposed on goods imported from China, Apple was facing steep cost increases and would likely have had to drastically increase prices on its product offerings.

Still paying base tariffs
Apple has since been exempted from most of these tariffs for phones, computer components, displays and TVs.

It is, however, still paying the base level tariffs of 20 % on imported Chinese goods, and some product categories, like accessories, will not be exempted from the full tariffs after the 90 day pause, announced on April 9. The pause left in effect the base level tariff.

10 % from everywhere else
In addition, the «reciprocal» tariff of 10 % remains for the rest of the world, further adding to exposure. That’s from India, Vietnam and the EU, where Apple still sources some products.

And when the 90 day pause is up in about two months, it’s anybody’s guess where prices will land.

UPDATE (May 25, 2025): Donald Trump recently announced an additional 25 % tariff on Apple and foreign-made smartphones, further ratcheting up the tariff pressure — not just coutries of origin, but now targeting specific product classes not made in the USA.

For a deeper dive into Apple’s tariff exposure, read this excellent breakdown from MacRumors.