Apple Seeks Tariff Waivers on iPhone Components, Apple Watch, AirPods and More - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Seeks Tariff Waivers on iPhone Components, Apple Watch, AirPods and More

Apple has asked the United States government to exclude Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, iPhone components, and other devices and parts imported from China from the 15 percent tariff that went into effect on September 1, reports Bloomberg.

Apple filed for exclusions on 11 products or components on Thursday, which was the first day that companies were able to ask for relief from tariffs.

apple watch nike airpods
During Apple's earnings call earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that Apple is already paying tariffs on some of its products. Cook also said that Apple is hopeful the United States and China will resolve the trade dispute.

"I don't know every chapter of the book, but I think that will eventually happen," Cook said. "I certainly hope it happens during the quarter, but we'll see about that."

In its request for tariff waivers, Apple said that it has been unable to find a source outside of China able to meet the U.S. demand for products or components in the coming year.

Apple asked for tariff exemption for Mac Pro components earlier this year, and though Trump initially said Apple would not be granted tariff relief, Apple did indeed receive exemptions for some of the Chinese made components, and in turn agreed to manufacture the new Mac Pro in Texas.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...

Top Rated Comments

83 months ago
Following Tim's example can I request a waiver from paying my taxes since it puts me at a disadvantage in buying as much stuff as people who have more money than me?

Thanks
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ajfahey Avatar
83 months ago
The idea, Tim, is that you should be offshoring your production from China to a country that is less inclined to steal your intellectual property and more inclined to support free trade agreements in general. I‘m pretty sure that there are other countries other than China too with Universities that you can join as a director. Get with the program. Be an American.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pepe4life Avatar
83 months ago
Maybe Tim can also request a waiver from China to stop oppressing Hong Kong
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
83 months ago

Would you still buy an iphone at 3 times its current price?
Apple just released their financials that showed nearly a 38% gross profit margin.

Apple has significant room to have higher costs without increasing the prices.


they just have to have the "courage" to tell wallstreet to **** off.

but with Tim Cook, that will NOT happen because his avarice is the same as those in wallstreet. The stock price is all that matters at the end of the day to them, and that means pushing margins as high as possible.

We need to stop making excuses for this sort of pure greed by Apple and it's share holders.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TonyC28 Avatar
83 months ago
Most valuable company in the world, a one-percenter if there ever was one, asking for a tax break. But it's Apple. We'll see how that plays on this forum.

In its request for tariff waivers, Apple said that it has been unable to find a source outside of China able to meet the U.S. demand for products or components in the coming year.

Unable to find a source as cheap as China, right?
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
83 months ago
All US companies were warned about production in China 3 years ago. Stop making your **** in China and move manufacturing to the US and other countries that are not currency manipulators and intelectual property theives. Get on it already. You should have started the process 3 years ago.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Iphone | Mac | Ipad | Business | Motoring