In a nutshell: Apple has asked the Trump administration for its products to be excluded from US tariffs on goods manufactured in China, arguing that they are "not strategically important or related to 'Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs."
As reported by Reuters, Apple is seeking tariff exclusions from 11 products, including HomePod speakers, iMacs, parts used for repairing iPhones, iPhone smart battery cases, AirPods, and others.
Apple, which is reliant on China for manufacturing its products and parts, is looking for an exemption from the 15 percent tariffs introduced on September 1. The company submitted its exemption request on the first day the Trump administration started accepting them.
Apple has been here before. Back in July, it filed exemption requests with the Office of the US Trade Representative, asking for 15 components, many designed for the new Mac Pro, to be excluded from the import tariffs on Chinese goods.
August saw Tim Cook and President Trump meet to discuss the implication of the US-China trade war on Apple. The CEO showed that the tariffs would have less of an effect on its main rival Samsung.
Apple claims it would be contributing $350 billion to the US economy by 2023, and that it supports up to 2.4 million American jobs.
Cook confirmed that Apple is currently "paying some tariffs today, as you know, some that went into effect pre-September and some others that went into effect in September. So we are paying some."
Apple isn't the only firm to make this request. Fitbit, which was acquired by Google on Friday, asked the government to waive tariffs on its fitness trackers. It said that "the vast majority of global production capacity for wrist-wearable communications devices is in China."