Trump admits to lowering tariffs to help Apple's Tim Cook

On April 2, 2025, President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs , but later excluded electronics products such as smartphones and semiconductors. President Trump acknowledged that this exemption was intended to support Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Trump confirms he reduced tariffs to help Tim Cook
https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/04/14/trump-confirms-he-reduced-tariffs-to-help-tim-cook

President Trump imposed a uniform 10% basic tariff on all imports, and then announced 'reciprocal tariffs' that would add additional tariffs on a country/region basis. He then announced that he would suspend the additional country/region tariffs for 90 days for countries that did not retaliate against the U.S. reciprocal tariffs.

President Trump's announcement of mutual tariffs hits the tech industry hard, causing stock prices of Apple, Amazon, Meta, NVIDIA, Alphabet and Microsoft to plummet - GIGAZINE

By Gage Skidmore

The Trump administration then released a list of product categories that would be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs. This list includes electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, hard disks, and semiconductors. However, the exemptions are from both the 125% tariff on Chinese products and the global baseline tariff, and the 20% tariff on China will remain in place.

President Trump excludes electronic devices such as smartphones, PCs, and semiconductors from reciprocal tariffs - GIGAZINE

On April 14, 2025, at a press conference held after an official meeting with Salvadoran President Najib Bukele, President Trump said, 'I'm a very flexible person. I don't change my mind, but I'm flexible.' 'You should be the same. Even if there's a wall, sometimes you don't just go through it, you have to go around it, go under it, go over it.' 'Maybe there's a lot of things that will happen in the future, but I'm talking to Tim Cook.' 'I helped Tim Cook recently,' he said, suggesting that the reason he excluded some electronic devices from the reciprocal tariffs was to help Apple.

You can also watch President Trump's press conference in the video below.

REPORTER: You mentioned short-lived tariffs exemptions. Which specific products?

TRUMP: I'm looking at something to help some of the car companies. They need a little bit of time. I speak to Tim Cook.

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— Aaron Rupar ( @atrupar.com ) April 15, 2025 1:23

Regarding the exemption from tariffs on electronics, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, 'It's not like it's a permanent exemption,' and explained that tariffs will be imposed on semiconductors separately from the reciprocal tariffs.

Trump administration says tariffs on smartphones, semiconductors and other electronic devices will be reinstated in 1-2 months, targeting semiconductor tariffs separate from reciprocal tariffs - GIGAZINE

While President Trump has stated that there are 'no exceptions to the tariffs,' the only certainty is that electronics were exempted from the tariffs at the request of CEO Cook, who is one of the few business leaders praised by President Trump, who calls him 'Tim Apple.'

In addition, CEO Cook has quickly built a friendly relationship with President Trump, including donating $ 1 million (about 143 million yen) to President Trump's inauguration.

Apple CEO Tim Cook donates over 150 million yen to Trump's inauguration - GIGAZINE