Apple has narrowly avoided a 15% tariff on the iPhone after Trump's trade deal with China

AP Photo/ Evan Vucci

• Apple has narrowly dodged a 15% tariff on its flagship products including the iPhone, iPad and MacBooks, after US President Donald Trump rubber-stamped a trade deal with China.
• The trade deal Trump signed that averted tariffs that were set to go into effect on December 15.
• According to prominent Apple analyst Daniel Ives, the duties had threatened to increase the iPhone handset's average selling price by between $120 and $150.
• Much of the tech giant's supply chain is based in China.
• Trump, who meets regularly with Apple CEO Tim Cook, said last month he was "looking into" exempting Apple from tariffs.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple has escaped a 15% tariff on its flagship products including the iPhone, iPad and MacBook range after US President Donald Trump rubber-stamped a deal to postpone tariffs with China on Thursday.

Trump's approval of the deal meant that tariffs set to go into effect on Sunday - which would likely have raised the sale prices of Apple products - will no longer be applied.

On Thursday, prominent Apple analyst Daniel Ives told Business Insider the tariffs threatened to increase iPhone prices between $120 and $150. That, Ives said, would have lowered demand for the devices by 6% to 8%

Ives added that about 350 million of the 900 million iPhones currently in use are due for an upgrade, and weakening demand before revealing its first 5G-capable handsets would be a huge negative for Apple.

The Associated Press

President Donald Trump tours an Apple manufacturing plant, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, in Austin with Apple CEO Tim Cook, left. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Trump has always enjoyed a seemingly friendly relationshop with Apple, and has met with CEO Tim Cook on multiple occasions this year.

This included a trip last month to a Texas factory that assembles Apple's newly-released Mac Pro, during which Trump said he was "looking into" possibly exempting Apple from tariffs on imported Chinese goods.

Much of Apple's supply chain is located in China, including its main iPhone assembly plant in Zhengzhou, which assembles up to half the world's iPhones.

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