While Apple has been seeking relief in regards to tariff exemptions regarding the new Mac Pro for quite some time, it continues to be an uphill battle for the company.
The majority of production for Apple’s product still takes place in China, a country that is currently engaged in a long-running trade war with the United States. As a result, tariffs have become a huge concern of Apple’s, especially as it relates to competition with other companies. But that hasn’t stopped the U.S. government from denying those sought-after exemptions.
Even after Apple announced production of the new Mac Pro would take place in Texas.
Bloomberg has the report on Monday, detailing how the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has denied Apple’s request for tariff relief on several parts related to the new Mac Pro. According to the report, these parts include the wheels, the power adapter and charging cable, a cooling system for the processor, and a circuit board that manages input/output ports:
In letters to Apple posted online, USTR said the five exclusion requests were denied because they ‘failed to show that the imposition of additional duties on the particular product would cause severe economic harm to you or other U.S. interests.
This is a bit of a back-and-forth situation, it seems. For those keeping track, Apple was actually awarded some minor relief when it comes to tariffs on the new Mac Pro earlier this month. At the time, it was described as such:
Ten of Apple’s 15 requests for exclusions from 25% duties have been approved, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. Customs and Border Protection determined it can administer the waiver from the levies when the goods enter the U.S. On Thursday, Apple’s request to win exemptions for the components had moved to an advanced stage in the approval process.
So now we know what’s happened with the five additional requests that Apple has made up to this point. But this latest round of denials for Apple is a strange move, considering Apple made it pretty clear that its decision to keep Mac Pro production in Texas was due to tariff relief from earlier in the same month.
Here’s part of Apple’s announcement, emphasis added by us:
The new Mac Pro will include components designed, developed and manufactured by more than a dozen American companies for distribution to US customers. Manufacturers and suppliers across Arizona, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont, including Intersil and ON Semiconductor, are providing advanced technology. The US manufacturing of Mac Pro is made possible following a federal product exclusion Apple is receiving for certain necessary components. The value of American-made components in the new Mac Pro is 2.5 times greater than in Apple’s previous generation Mac Pro.
Being denied five of the total 15 tariff exemption requests is probably a pretty tough pill for Apple to swallow, especially with the decision regarding the new Mac Pro.