AAPL: Apple Stock Jumps as Traders Anticipate Tariff Reprieve for iPhone Maker

Trump said last week that Apple should be paying 25% tariffs on iPhones sold but not made in the US. Traders are betting he’ll backpedal like he did with pretty much any other tariff.

💰 Apple Shares Scooped Up

• Apple stock AAPL gained 1.7% in pre-market Tuesday trading, lifted by optimism that Trump’s tariff threats may once again turn into hot air. Shares were poised to open at more than $198 a piece, valuing the tech titan at $3 trillion.
• Investors drew a direct line between the last-minute EU tariff delay and the possibility of similar leniency for iPhones sold but produced outside the US. Although, no indication has been given on that front and Apple has remained quiet about the situation.
• Still, the market is banking on a repeat performance: bold rhetoric followed by backpedaling, sparing Apple from a 25% import hit.

🤑 Apple “Should Pay 25%”

• Just last Friday, Trump said Apple “should pay 25% tariffs” on foreign-made iPhones — a comment that rattled the market but hasn’t been followed by policy (think executive order).
• The news shook the iPhone maker, leading to its shares declining by a little over 3% on the day.
• Investors have grown used to the pattern: tough talk from the Oval Office or social media, then a quiet step back once economic realities kick in. What exactly could these realities be?

👀 What’s Next?

• Making iPhones in the US could be excessively expensive — and threatens to raise the cost to the end user up to three times the current $1,000 per iPhone (more or less).
• The alternative — Apple has sought to move its production out of China and into India. But India is also on the tariff list with a hefty 26% levy on imports into the US.
• By the looks of it, the best possible escape from the complex maze of tariffs (and the one that will spare CEO Tim Cook a lot of headaches) is for Trump to let Apple slide and not slap it with a tariff. And that’s the one investors are hoping to see materialize.