Mac Pros might be a more expensive as Apple tariff relief gets denied

JC Torres - Sep 30, 2019, 7:58 pm CDT

The US government’s blacklists and tariffs were meant to send a strong statement to China and pressure the latter in its ongoing trade and political spat. Unfortunately, it won’t just be the Chinese economy that will get affected as even the US tech market will soon feel the aftermath. The Mac Pros, already one of the more expensive computers in the market, might become even pricier now that Apple will have to pay 25% more for certain parts coming from China.

Apple probably hoped it was getting an exemption. After all, it applied for exemption on 15 China-made parts for the Mac Pro and 10 of them were granted. Apple even played ball by publicly committing to making the computers in Texas, something that US President Donald Trump was only too happy to tweet about.

Unfortunately, the US Trade Representative’s office denied the remaining 5 components, which include optional wheels for the desktop, a circuit board for managing input and output, and a power adapter, to name some. The US’ official reason for denying the tariff waiver is that the imposition of additional duties won’t cause severe economic harm to Apple or the US.

Apple and consumers might disagree in the long run. Apple will obviously have to find a way to offset the additional costs of components and, more often than not, the added cost it tacked onto the price tag that buyers will have to pay for. When that happens, expect the $6,000 Mac Pro to have an even higher starting price.

Things could have been worse as President Trump initially declared that Apple will absolutely get no relief. His stance in July has softened in light of Apple’s announcement to manufacture the computers inside the US. Apparently that wasn’t enough and Trump really wants Apple to source every part from US companies, proprietary parts that Apple explained aren’t available elsewhere outside of China.

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