Apple gets early Christmas present: New tariffs on iPhones are delayed

Import tax increase on gadgets doesn’t kick in until Dec. 15

Want a new iPhone but worried about tariffs raising the price? You could catch a break between now and the holiday season.

The Trump Administration said that it would postpone until Dec. 15 imposing a new 10% tariff on iPhones and other devices that had been set to go into effect Sept. 1. The tariffs are part of the ongoing trade war between the United States and China.

The delay, announced late Tuesday, gives Apple — as well as other American tech companies that rely heavily on consumer sales — the opportunity to sell many of their products during the crucial Christmas and holiday shopping season without having to raise prices to account for the new import taxes.

Apple hasn’t said anything publicly about when it will release a new iPhone, but the company historically has held events in either September or early October to unveil the next iteration of the smartphone.

The delay will cover nearly the entire final quarter of the year, which is always Apple’s biggest annual sales period. During the final three months of 2018, Apple reported revenue of $84.3 billion, and iPhone sales of almost $52 billion.

In addition to cellphones, other products covered under the tariff delay include laptop computers and tablets, keyboards, wired headphones, remotecontrolled video game handsets and TV set-top boxes.

For Apple, that means Macbook laptops, iPads and Apple TV devices will be exempt from the additional 10% tariffs until mid-December.

However, not all Apple products will escape the tariff increase that is set to occur in less than three weeks.

iMac computers, along with other companies’ desktop PCs will be hit by the new tariffs. Air Pods, wireless Beats headphones, Apple Watches and Apple’s HomePod audio speaker aren’t covered by the delay and are in line for possible tariff-related price increases starting in September.