US tariffs for Vietnam: Apple production could suffer

After the first Trump administration started in 2017, Apple began to diversify its production: China in particular should reduce capacity as the most important manufacturing location so far so that the group may suffer less during the emergency war with the United States. In the search for new regions for the production, Apple landed in India, where at least 25 percent of all iPhones are now to be created, but also in other regions, including Vietnam. The problem: new tariffs that the US government imposes not only against China, but also against other countries, threaten the move-or let it appear as less clever.

Even with deal it gets more expensive

For Vietnam the USA now had announced a “deal” that includes a customs rate of 20 percent. What sounds like “not much” is the twice of the current customs set as part of a 90-day period that Trump gave himself for negotiations. If there had been no deal, the United States wanted to set 46 percent. In addition to the 20 percent, there is also a so-called transshipping custom: 40 percent should be paid if products are only “dragged through” by Vietnam, that is, actually come from other countries such as China, but then end up in the USA.

Apple is currently producing accessory products such as the Apple Watch and Airpods, but also more important hardware such as certain variants of Mac Mini, MacBook Pro and iPad. It was initially unclear whether trans-hipping costs would be made because components from China are composed in Vietnam. For comparison: Before the start of the customs debate, the import fee for products from Vietnam to the USA was only 4 percent.

“Great honor” for Trump

According to Trump, the deal is a great success, since Vietnam himself will receive products from the USA 0 percent inch. “It is a big one for me Honor to announce that I have just concluded a trade agreement with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, “said Trump on his social network Truth Social.

As usual, the US government said that “Vietnam would pay”. However, the importer always pays customs, in this case Apple. This means that the overall fee has quinted. It is currently still unclear whether the iPhone manufacturer will therefore increase its prices.