Back in November 2019, Apple asked the US government to exclude iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch, and HomePods from tariffs on the goods from China. The government did not exclude Apple Watch at that time.
According to reports by Bloomberg, the US Trade Representative waived the tariff on the Apple Watch. President Donald Trump imposed a 15% tariff on a list of goods in September that included the Apple watch. He cut in half those tariffs as part of an initial trade deal with Beijing in February. 15.
Back in October 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that he was hopeful the U.S. and China would resolve their trade issues by saying. “I don’t know every chapter of the book, but I think that will eventually happen,” he also added, “I certainly hope it happens during the quarter, but we’ll see about that.”
According to the report by Bloomberg, Apple argued to exempt the electronic devices from tariff saying, “It is not strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025’ or other Chinese industrial programs”
Apple has no source outside China which can meet the demands of the customers in the USA for the coming year.