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Apple could be used as a 'bargaining chip' in the trade war, Chinese state media warns
CNBC ^ | Arjun Kharpal

Posted on 08/07/2018 10:11:57 AM PDT by Red Badger

Apple has benefited from cheap labor and strong supply chain in China which has helped it boost profit and get to a $1 trillion valuation, the state-backed People's Daily said. The U.S. firm should share that money with Chinese citizens, the article urged. Apple could be the target of "anger and nationalist sentiment" amid the ongoing trade war.

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Apple has benefited from cheap labor and a strong supply chain in China and needs to share more of its profit with the Chinese people or face "anger and nationalist sentiment" amid the ongoing trade war, an article in the state-backed People's Daily warned Tuesday. The article originally appeared in another state-backed publication, Global Times, last week.

The opinion piece highlights how Apple made $9.6 billion in revenues in China in the June quarter, which helped the U.S. giant to recently hit a $1 trillion valuation.

But the continuing trade war between the U.S. and China could leave Apple and other U.S. firms vulnerable as "bargaining chips" for Beijing, according to the article.

"The eye-catching success achieved in the Chinese market may provoke nationalist sentiment if U.S. President Donald Trump's recently adopted protectionist measures hit Chinese companies hard," the People's Daily said.

"China is by far the most important overseas market for the U.S.-based Apple, leaving it exposed if Chinese people make it a target of anger and nationalist sentiment. China doesn't want to close its doors to Apple despite the trade conflict, but if the U.S. company wants to earn good money in China, its needs to share its development dividends with the Chinese people."

It's unclear how the publication thinks Apple should share its profits with Chinese citizens.

Apple declined to comment.

Last week, China said it was ready to retaliate with tariffs on around $60 billion of U.S. goods, just days after the U.S. administration revealed that Trump had spoken with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and asked him to consider increasing the proposed levies on $200 billion of Chinese goods up to 25 percent, from 10 percent.

So far, Apple has been broadly insulated from the trade war. Trump reportedly told Apple CEO Tim Cook in June that iPhones assembled in China would be spared from levies.

But People's Daily took issue with the economics of the iPhone. The article claimed that Chinese companies in Apple's supply chain only get 1.8 percent of total profits created by the flagship device. People's Daily did not cite where it got this figure from.

Ultimately, Chinese state media argued that U.S. companies could begin to enter the firing line in the conflict between the world's two largest economies.

"The trade conflict initiated by the Trump administration reminds China to re-examine China-U.S. trade," People's Daily wrote. "It seems U.S. companies doing business in China are the biggest winners from China-U.S. trade. The Chinese market is vital for many top U.S. brands, giving Beijing more leeway to play hardball in the trade conflict."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Government; US: California; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: apple; california; china; ipad; iphone; mac; tariffs; texas; trade
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To: Swordmaker

Well, God tells me to hate every false way and Jobs was into Zen Buddhism for most of his life. So I hate the fact that that belief has put Jobs in hell for all eternity.


41 posted on 08/07/2018 5:20:35 PM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: WhatNot
Meh! I just hate everything Steve Jobs stood for.

Me too but none of the others are any better and that is a fact.

42 posted on 08/07/2018 5:38:14 PM PDT by itsahoot (Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
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To: itsahoot
Maybe not but I paid $150.00 for my phone brand new, it does everything I need it to do and then some, I then used the funds I saved toward much more important things in life.

How much did road apple charge you for yours?

43 posted on 08/07/2018 5:45:56 PM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: WhatNot
Steve Jobs offered to pay for nobama’s 2012 campaign ads.

Fat chance. Steve Jobs was deathly ill the last couple years of his life, and died in 2011.

44 posted on 08/07/2018 6:49:17 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: WhatNot
Yeah I still have a clear conscience with my Samsung.

Commie lovers loving their Samsungs, made by commies directly employed by Samsung. No thanks, I'll enjoy my American Apple iPhone.

45 posted on 08/07/2018 6:52:59 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: roadcat

Google Shenzhen China and Apple. Your IPhone is as American as the leftist loving socialist who design it.


46 posted on 08/07/2018 7:09:58 PM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: Swordmaker

Thank you. Point still stands,though. Whether it an Apple product or a Vizio product being assembled through Foxconn in China, any rational corporate entity if they are interested in maintaining profitability is going to start moving operations elsewhere if the host nation starts singling out a particular nation’s enterprises in a trade battle.


47 posted on 08/07/2018 7:13:43 PM PDT by chuckee
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To: WhatNot
How much did road apple charge you for yours?

You act like an iPhone and an Android are the same thing, they are not, anymore than a Ferrari and a VW Beatle are the same thing.

Buy what you want or like or can afford and I will do the same without insulting you for your choice.

48 posted on 08/08/2018 2:52:25 AM PDT by itsahoot (Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
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To: itsahoot

Insulting you? All I originally said was I feel a LITTLE better about owning Android, the next thing I know the whole cult of apple is jumping down my throat. One guy was so determined to defend his hero Steve Jobs, he went about writing a whole history revision about him.


49 posted on 08/08/2018 3:28:06 AM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: WhatNot; Swordmaker
One guy was so determined to defend his hero Steve Jobs, he went about writing a whole history revision about him.

Then correct his facts or drop it.

50 posted on 08/08/2018 6:37:09 AM PDT by itsahoot (Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
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To: WhatNot
Your IPhone is as American as the leftist loving socialist who design it.

You drank the socialist cool-aid. Get some brains and wake-up from your commie-loving ways. Samsung is a commie phone maker. Apple is a USA company, and the iPhone was designed in California by a team of Americans. Samsung built factories in Red China, and builds their designs with commie employees employed directly by Samsung in Samsung owned factories in commie China. Apple has no build staff in Red China, while Samsung has thousands.

Wake up and stop being a commie puppet.

51 posted on 08/08/2018 6:55:27 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: roadcat

Yeah, everyone who doesn’t own an Apple IPhone is a commie puppet, your as deranged as the liberals in Silicon Valley who designed your phone. Get a life!


52 posted on 08/08/2018 7:06:54 AM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: WhatNot
Yeah, everyone who doesn’t own an Apple IPhone is a commie pupp

You prove my point that you're brain-dead from sipping the commie cool-aid. My reference of you being a commie puppet is a direct reflection of your remarks that are totally opposite of reality. Other Samsung phone owners are not trumpeting support of communism, you are.

53 posted on 08/08/2018 7:30:21 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: roadcat

Stop worshipping your phone, it won’t save you. Turn to Jesus for True Salvation.


54 posted on 08/08/2018 7:39:33 AM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: WhatNot
Stop worshipping your phone, it won’t save you. Turn to Jesus for True Salvation.

My iPhone is a tool, that's all, and has no emotional attachment for me. You, my misguided friend, are on the path to self-destruction. You reject logic and facts to support your fanaticism for a socialist made item, when you would be better off confessing your sins in order to attempt being salvaged. Your invoking the name of Jesus to cover your failings is sad.

55 posted on 08/08/2018 8:00:54 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: roadcat

lol. For a tool you have no attachment to, you sure spewed a ton of emotional hyperbole about it on this thread. Again turn to Christ for True Salvation!


56 posted on 08/08/2018 8:13:35 AM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: Swordmaker

Thanks for the 411.


57 posted on 08/08/2018 8:40:35 AM PDT by Harpotoo
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To: WhatNot
One guy was so determined to defend his hero Steve Jobs, he went about writing a whole history revision about him.

I was not the one writing a revisionist history of Steve Jobs. That would be YOU claiming that Jobs apparently used a Ouija Board to offer to pay for Obama's 2012 campaign ads after he was DEAD, DEAD, DEAD! Neat trick that. I merely corrected your false claim, and pointed out that Jobs pretty much steered clear of politics, contrary to the activism constantly attributed to him without an iota of evidence.

Facts do mean things.

58 posted on 08/08/2018 10:01:17 AM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplaphobe bigot!)
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To: Swordmaker
Steve Jobs Wanted To Make 2012 Campaign Commercials For Obama

I know every article I ever read about Steve Jobs is a lie and Im a Samsung commie for believing them. You can save your typing fingers for the next phone commie you come across.

59 posted on 08/08/2018 10:44:39 AM PDT by WhatNot (The Gospel doesn't promise the American dream, it promises Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.)
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To: WhatNot

Not hyberbole, son. Facts, pure hard facts, which you seem to dislike and disparage. To date, you have not shared any facts on this forum thread, just lies and when you lose, you disparage and insult. Unbecoming. And you invoke the name of the lord in vain to buttress your phony claims. Time for you to stop and think about where you will be in the afterlife. Because laying false claims is not the path to salvation. For example, saying Steve Jobs contributed to Bernie in 2012, long after he was dead and had been deathly ill for a couple of years. Shame on you, shame.


60 posted on 08/08/2018 11:01:09 AM PDT by roadcat
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