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CNN Reporter Spreads Fake News That iPhones Will Cost $7,500 More Under Trump Tariffs

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A CNN reporter falsely suggested Friday that under President Donald Trump’s soon-to-be implemented tariffs on Chinese imports, iPhones could cost $7,500 more than they currently do.

Trump announced Friday he’s be implementing a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.

“This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25%,” Trump said, referring to the tariffs he announced in May.

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According to CNN reporter Joe Johns, this means the price of an iPhone could rise by $7,500.

“A lot of people are going to say 7,500 bucks more for an iPhone is not ‘de minimis,'” Johns told Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, during a media gaggle outside the White House.

“Would you guys at least just admit that these latest tariffs are going to inject a new level of volatility?”

Kudlow responded: “Well, let’s see how that plays out, because on a lot of these production supply chains and so forth, there are going to be changes.”

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“A lot of these companies have already said they are fixing to leave China and come either come back to the United States or go someplace else,” he said. “So, I don’t want to outguess that. We are cognizant of that and we want to protect it.”

Watch below, starting around the 9:30 mark:

According to Apple’s website, a 64-gigabyte iPhone XS Max, the company’s most expensive phone, starts at $1,099. A 512-gigabyte version, meanwhile, costs $1,449.

In May, J.P. Morgan estimated that if Trump decided to extend his 25 percent tariffs to the other $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, iPhones would only cost about 14 percent more.

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“We estimate a price increase of around 14% is required to absorb the impact of a 25% tariff, keeping margin dollars for all players in the supply chain constant,” J.P. Morgan said in a note to clients, according to CNBC.

Of course, Trump’s most recent tariffs are 10 percent, not 25 percent.

In short, it’s highly inaccurate to say these tariffs would cause a price increase of $7,500 for a single iPhone.

The Western Journal reached out to Johns for comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.

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Joe Setyon was a deputy managing editor for The Western Journal who had spent his entire professional career in editing and reporting. He previously worked in Washington, D.C., as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine.
Joe Setyon was deputy managing editor for The Western Journal with several years of copy editing and reporting experience. He graduated with a degree in communication studies from Grove City College, where he served as managing editor of the student-run newspaper. Joe previously worked as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine, a libertarian publication in Washington, D.C., where he covered politics and wrote about government waste and abuse.
Birthplace
Brooklyn, New York
Topics of Expertise
Sports, Politics




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