While President Trump’s exemption of tariffs on certain technological products has provided some relief for Apple, a sense of uncertainty still lingers.

The adjustments within the Trump administration’s mutual imposition of customs duty tariff sanctions, exempting certain technology products like smartphones, computers, and chips from additional customs duties, brought short-term relief to some companies, especially to Apple. According to Bloomberg, before Trump’s exemption decision, Apple was already on the brink of a crisis. The exemption decision has temporarily averted the company’s biggest crisis it would face since the pandemic. This was mainly due to the company’s reliance on China for production. This is because Trump’s announcement of a 125% tariff on products manufactured in China could have disrupted Apple’s supply chain. “THIS IS A BIG RELIEF FOR APPLE” According to Bloomberg’s assessment, even though new and lower sector tariffs are in effect for products containing semiconductors, and a 20% tariff on China is in place, the latest changes made by the Trump administration were a gain for the consumer electronics sector, which is largely dependent on China for production, including Apple. Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani noted in a note shared on Saturday, “This is a big relief for Apple… Tariffs could have raised material cost inflation.” APPLE’S PLAN B WAS INDIA Before the latest exemption, Apple had a plan in place against tariffs. As per the plan, the company would increase iPhone production in India to be sold in the U.S. This way, the company’s products would face a lower tax rate. Apple’s existing facilities in India have the capacity to produce over 30 million iPhones annually. Apple sells between 220,000 to 230 million iPhones each year, with approximately a third of these sales going to the U.S. On the other hand, the company plans to mainly produce the new iPhone 17 in China. This caused concerns regarding the launch of new phone models in Apple’s operations, finance, and marketing departments. If Trump had not granted the latest tariff exemption, the company would have needed to move iPhone 17 production more extensively to India or another country. While this was still possible, it could have led to price increases for the products. WILL CHINA RETALIATE? Despite the recent sense of relief, a feeling of uncertainty persists, as the policies of the White House are thought to be subject to further changes, causing Apple to potentially make more dramatic adjustments. On the other hand, concerns are raised about the potential retaliation from Beijing if Apple rapidly shifts its production from China to another country. Apple generates approximately 17% of its revenue from this country and has dozens of stores in China. Given that China has initiated competition-related investigations against other U.S.-based companies, it is considered that this could also pose a problem for Apple.