Apple CEO Tim Cook says he told Trump tariffs are wrong approach to China
Cook said his message to Trump focused on the importance of trade and how cooperation can boost the economy more than nations acting alone
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said he criticised Donald Trump’s approach to trade with China in a recent White House meeting, while urging the president to address the legal status of immigrants known as Dreamers.
In an interview on Bloomberg Television, Cook said his message to Trump focused on the importance of trade and how cooperation between two countries can boost the economy more than nations acting alone.
Cook met with Trump in the Oval Office in late April amid a brewing trade war between the US and China. The Trump administration instituted 25 per cent tariffs on at least US$50 billion worth of products from China, sparking retaliation. In the interview on “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations,” Cook acknowledged that previous trade policies were flawed but said Trump’s move is also problematic.
“It’s true, undoubtedly true, that not everyone has been advantaged from that – in either country – and we’ve got to work on that,” Cook said. “But I felt that tariffs were not the right approach there, and I showed him some more analytical kinds of things to demonstrate why.”
Although Apple produces most of its products in China and lists the US and China among its three largest markets, the Cupertino, California-based technology company hasn’t been seriously affected by trade tensions so far. While products like the iPhone and iPad are designed in the US, they are made using China-based factories run by the likes of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Pegatron Corp.