Trump’s tariffs won’t bite Apple, illustrating Tim Cook’s political sway -- The Washington Post

Also see For sheer idiocy, it’s hard to beat Trump’s crackdown on trade with China (The Washington Post)

"But the 57-year-old tech leader has also become one of the technology industry’s savviest political operators — a behind-the-scenes Trump whisperer, able to shape some of the administration’s economic policies in ways that benefit Apple and some of its tech peers.

Those efforts seemed to pay off Monday, after Trump unveiled tariffs on roughly $200 billion in goods imported from China, the latest salvo in the trade war Washington is waging against Beijing. The initial list of imports the White House had threatened to penalize included some of Apple’s best-known products, the company said earlier this month, such as its recently updated Apple Watch smartwatch, HomePod home assistant and AirPods wireless headphones (but not the iPhone). On Monday evening, though, those products were spared. Thousands of other imports weren’t so lucky, and Americans could soon be paying more for such things as refrigerators and toys."

Trump’s tariffs won’t bite Apple, illustrating Tim Cook’s political sway -- The Washington Post