Skip to main content

Tim Cook & President Trump met for dinner yesterday, tariffs a likely topic of conversation

Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump met for dinner last night, according to a tweet from the president. While details of the meeting are unclear at this point, it’s likely that tariffs were a central point of conversation…

In a tweet ahead of the dinner last night, Trump explained that he was “looking forward” to the meeting, touting that Apple is investing “big dollars” into the United States. Reuters reports:

“Looking forward to dinner tonight with Tim Cook of Apple. He is investing big dollars in U.S.A.,” said Trump, who is on vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

While details of what was discussed at the meeting last night are unclear at this point, it’s likely that the central topic of conversation was trade.

During Apple’s earnings call last week, Cook warned of the effects of tariffs, saying that they often bring about “significant risk” of unintended consequences. At the time, Cook said that Apple was “evaluating” the latest round of U.S. tariffs and would share its findings with the Trump Administration.

Later, in an SEC filing, Apple warned that tariffs would increase the cost of its products, the components that go into making them, and raw materials. This, Apple argued, would make its products more expensive to consumers, thus making them less competitive and affecting consumer demand.

A New York Times piece back in June said that the White House had promised Cook that the iPhone would go unaffected by any tariffs. The Trump Administration, however, later denied such an exemption:

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said Tuesday he has no knowledge of an exemption for Apple’s iPhones in U.S. trade talks with China.

Currently, the Apple product most likely to be affected by tariffs is the Apple Watch – which could face an import tariff higher than 10 percent. We’ll be sure to update if more details of Cook and Trump’s latest meeting emerge.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1028050296151400453


Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com