Trump's fees have made 'Apple' and its shares a serious slap

Apple became the core of the confrontation with the new customs duties imposed by President Donald Trump, despite efforts that lasted years to isolate the manufacturer of iPhone phones of commercial wars and supply chain disorders. It threatens a long list of customs duties that the White House particularly revealed, which led to a sharp drop in its shares during the evening trading Wednesday. The new customs duties – suffered in response to the existing fees – will reach 34% on China, which increases the total rate of fees on Chinese goods to 54%, which poses a threat to the ‘Apple’ supply chain that still depends largely on the Asian state. But the fees also include other Apple manufacturing centers, limiting their efforts to stay away from China. Although the company still sells most of its devices in the US in Chinese factories, it has expanded manufacturing in several other countries, including: India, where an increasing number of “iPhone” and “Airbods” devices are manufactured, which will be subject to 26%fees. Vietnam, in which Apple produces some “airbods”, “iPad”, Apple Watches and “Mac” devices will face 46%fees. Malaysia, which has become a growing center for the manufacture of “Mac” devices, will undergo 24%fees. Thailand, where some “Mac” devices are manufactured, will be exposed to 36%fees. Ireland, within the European Union, will face 20%fees as “Apple” makes some “IC” devices there. This step shocked the investors, whose concerns increased the impact of customs duties on Apple’s profits. The shares of the company fell 7.9% during the extended trading, after falling by 11% since the beginning of the year, in the light of a wider decline in technology shares. More pressure and the White House announced that the new drawings would come into effect on April 9. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. The company may experience more pressure due to its dependence on imported components from other countries and regions that are also subject to these fees. The new fees are likely to affect the margins of profits, as analysts of ‘Bloomberg Intelligence’, Anura Rana and Andrew Gerard, said in a research note: “We do not expect the company to raise prices to compensate the impact.” If Apple decides to raise prices, it will be in a confrontation according to analysts with the decline in consumer confidence. During the first period of the Trump administration, Apple CEO Tim Cook succeeded in persuading the president with the exception of ‘iPhone’ and some other products of customs duties, on the pretext that this tax will harm an American company and give a competitive advantage for the South Korean “Samsung business. By improving the relationship with Trump and earlier this year, Apple tried to improve its relationship with the Trump administration by investing $ 500 billion in the US in the next four years, a slight acceleration in the investment rate compared to the period of President Joe Biden when inflation is excluded. As part of this initiative, the company has announced the production of some servers associated with artificial intelligence in Texas, and recently started producing a limited number of chips in a facility in Arizona. Currently, Apple does not produce major production in the United States, with the exception of One McGro, which starts from $ 6999 – produced in Texas. However, the sales of this device are limited, and many of its components are imported from China and other countries.