Apple seeks tariff exemption after moving Mac Pro production to China

Apple is asking the Trump administration to exclude parts of its new Mac Pro from import tariffs after Apple reportedly said it is planning to move some production of the machines to China.

In filings made public this week, Apple asked the U.S. trade representative’s office to exclude components of Apple’s new Mac Pro from the list of products that could be hit by tariffs of 25 percent.

{mosads}Bloomberg first reported that the list of products named by Apple — including a circuit board, a power cable and frames — align with the company’s planned Mac Pro.

Apple last month moved production of its Mac Pro to China amid the ongoing trade war between China and the U.S.

The computer has been manufactured in the U.S. for the past several years.

Apple last month also asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to exclude other products — including the iPhone — from President Trump‘s next round of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports.

The company asked Lighthizer to strike Apple products from Trump’s proposed tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports, which, if implemented, would affect the iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, AppleTV and more.

Apple products have been stricken from previous lists of tariffs.

The Cupertino, Calif., company has found itself on the front lines of Trump’s trade war as the U.S. considers imposing tariffs on virtually all goods from China, including on popular iPhones and Mac computers. 

China and the U.S. are expected to hold in-person trade talks next week as both countries have made small concessions in recent days to ease the tensions.

The Trump administration has slapped tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods and threatened to impose tariffs on even more products, a move that the tech industry has lobbied against aggressively.