Intel in the US is expected At least for Apple to make the upcoming Mac and iPhone chips. Perhaps this latest development is a basic tariff exemption about semiconductors Apple bought about a year ago.
Robbie Whelan reports The Wall Street Journal on Friday (Apple News link):
Tim Cook was under pressure from the White House last summer when he made an unusual request.
The Apple chief was in Washington trying to convince the Trump administration to abandon a plan to impose 100% tariffs on all semiconductor imports, which would likely raise the price of its most important products.
After Apple finally won an exception after committing to invest hundreds of billions of dollars more in the U.S., Cook also brought up another American company during his meetings with President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick: troubled chipmaker Intel.
The report goes on to detail how the Trump administration essentially pitched the Intel investment tariff exemptions.
Nearly a year later, Trump announced via a Truth Social post that Apple would begin using Intel-made chips for some of its products, sending Intel shares to record trading highs. “I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our chips in America,” Trump wrote.
Apple plans to use Intel to make chips for both Mac laptops and iPhones, according to a person familiar with the talks. The link between the tariff talks and a potential deal between Apple and Intel has not been previously reported.
Finally, Apple has never been forced to raise product prices due to import tariffs on semiconductors. unfortunately the invoice is still due due to a global memory supply shortage.
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