According to the latest tweet from the US president Donald Trump, Apple will not be eligible for any tariff exemptions on the new Mac Pro.
The previous Mac Pro, which saw its release all the way back in 2013 happened to have been manufactured in the US, however, the same cannot be said about this year’s model – as it will be manufactured and assembled in China. There have been reports which suggest that Apple had actually asked the Trump administration for relief from tariffs on Mac Pro parts, however, much to the disappointment of the company, the request seems to have been denied.
It was previously reported that Apple had signed a deal with Chinese manufacturer Quanta which meant that the assembling of the new Mac Pro will take place in a China. The Trump administration though believes that the manufacturing should take place in the US – and the president has not at all shied away from suggesting exactly that in the tweet, which says : “make them in the USA, no Tariffs!”.
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Apple made a big meal about the manufacturing process of the Mac Pro which took place in the US six years ago, as it came in the wake of suggestions and pressure from politicians over at the US that Apple should be encouraging more domestic manufacturing of its products. The manufacturing process of the last version of the Mac Pro took place in a factory in Texas, however, it has been widely reported ever since that Apple faced great difficulties in that decision – as there was a lack of US production infrastructure. Indeed there even was a case where the launch of the Mac Pro was delayed due to lack of sourcing of a single screw component.
The situation for Apple is without doubt quite complicated in the wake of the US-China trade war, which means that the company will have to pay a huge amount in tariffs on Macs which will be built in China. While the Mac Pro starts at $6,000, many believe that high-end configurations will top $50,000.
Following the request of a tax exemption coming in from Apple, the tweet from the president has also resulted in a public PR mess. Except for the pricing of the base model Mac Pro, Apple has not taken upon the decision to announce anything, however, it’s easy to imagine that there will be a change in the pricing strategy that Apple previously decided upon – if of course the tariff relief is indeed unavailable.
