US likely 'biggest loser' if iPhones, laptops go on tariff list
- Additional tariff on the devices would make little impact on China, analyst says
US companies are set to bear the biggest losses should American president Donald Trump proceed with a 10 per cent tariff on laptops and smartphones made in China.
In particular, Apple, whose iPhones and MacBooks are mostly assembled in China, could be hit hard while its Chinese partners remain unscathed, a Jefferies analyst said.
The majority of profits from Apple products are made from the US, followed by Korea, Japan, Taiwan and a few European countries, according to Conor O’Mara, a tech-media-telecoms specialist at Jefferies in Hong Kong. “China is a tiny fraction of the value add”, he said, in an email on Tuesday.
Some US$250 billion worth of tariffs have been slapped on goods from China and duties are set to increase from 10 per cent to 25 per cent on another US$200 billion worth of goods not already on the list. The move is part of measures to reduce trade deficit with China and alleged theft of American intellectual property and forced transfer of technology, according to the office of the US Trade Representative.