Ask Siri: How Does Apple Avoid a Tariff Catastrophe
May 7, 2025
Visualize Tim Apple. He asks Siri, “Siri, how do I guarantee Apple’s dominance in the mobile device sector?”
Siri answers, “Just ignore reality.”
The only problem is that Siri is one example of Apple’s outstanding technology, management decision making, and financial wizardry. Too bad the outputs are incorrect.
Let’s look at one good example:
Apple’s immense success is underpinned by the global supply chain it has spent decades cultivating. Now, President Trump may have turned that asset into a liability with the stroke of a pen. The BBC explains, “Designed in US, Made in China: Why Apple is Stuck.” Though the president backtracked a bit and exempted smartphones and computers from the tariffs, those final products are just the last step of Apple’s production infrastructure. Reporter Annabelle Liang writes:
“While the sleek rectangle that runs many of our lives is indeed designed in the United States, it is likely to have come to life thousands of miles away in China: the country hit hardest by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, now rising to 245% on some Chinese imports. Apple sells more than 220 million iPhones a year and by most estimates, nine in 10 are made in China. From the glossy screens to the battery packs, it’s here that many of the components in an Apple product are made, sourced and assembled into iPhones, iPads or Macbooks. Most are shipped to the US, Apple’s largest market. Luckily for the firm, Trump suddenly exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from his tariffs last week. But the comfort is short-lived. The president has since suggested that more tariffs are coming: ‘NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’,’ he wrote on Truth Social, as his administration investigated ‘semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN’.”
Such as stable genius. Meanwhile, Apple is vulnerable to competition from Chinese firms that benefit from the infrastructure Apple fostered. We learn:
“‘Now that ‘Apple has cultivated China’s electronic manufacturing capabilities, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and others can reuse Apple’s mature supply chain,’ according to Mr. Lin. Last year, Apple lost its place as China’s biggest smartphone seller to Huawei and Vivo.”
Way to kick a billionaire when he is down. It seems Tim Cook may now face Apple sauce, not Apple success. Did he not kiss the ring sufficiently? The firm now plans to invest $500 billion in the US, but we doubt even that sum will relocate much of Apple’s entrenched network to these shores. Or do much to placate the tariffer-in-chief. I want to write about ignoring the court decision regarding its online store. That’s another example of Ask Siri wisdom.
Cynthia Murrell, May 7, 2025
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