Tim Cook won’t rule out iPhone price increases amid tariff war

The price of the iPhone isn’t changing today, but that doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. That was the crux of the message from Apple CEO Tim Cook today, as he commented on the potential instability caused by trade policy in the United States and beyond.

Speaking after Apple’s earnings call on Tuesday, Cook made rare comments on the matter, admitting to shareholders that Apple is facing a $900 million bill from tariffs during the forthcoming quarter.

For now though, Apple isn’t passing on the burden to its customers and is doing everything it can to optimise the supply chain to get the most bang for its buck. That, it seems, means making more products outside of China where the worst of the worst of the tariffs apply on bringing goods back into the United States.

During the earnings call Cook said (via 9to5Mac): “Obviously, we’re very engaged on the tariff discussions.”

“We believe in engagement and will continue to engage. On the pricing piece, we have nothing to announce today. I’ll just say that the operational team has done an incredible job around optimizing the supply chain of the inventory, and we’ll obviously continue to do those things to the degree that we can.”

Cook might have revealed his hand a little bit there by not ruling out a price hike on the best iPhone models in the future.

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It should also be said that Apple has managed to negotiate a favoured nations deal with the Trump administration whereby smartphones and semiconductors and other Apple products have received exemptions from the worst of the tariffs.

That relationship with the government has been called into question by politicians in the United States, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren who called on Cook to offer clarity.

She wrote, in a letter, to the Apple CEO (via Fortune): “At best, your work to eliminate the tariffs on Apple products, and President Trump’s subsequent decision to exempt certain Apple products, creates the appearance of impropriety.

“However, recent reporting also raises serious questions about the extent to which it is possible for massive corporate special interests to use their money and influence to secure tariff exemptions that are unavailable to Main Street small businesses.”

It sure would be nice to hear the answers to those questions from Sen. Warren.

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