The Wall Street Journal discovers iPhones are made in China

From Tripp Mickle’s Apple Vulnerable in U.S.-China Trade Showdown ($) in Tuesday’s Journal:

By assembling its phones in China, Apple Inc. tapped into China’s vast workforce and formidable manufacturing capabilities. But it also made Apple’s most-profitable product a Chinese export—one that could be subject to tariffs in the trade dispute…

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Smartphones weren’t included in the levies on $34 billion of Chinese goods imposed on July 6, nor are they targeted in a second round worth $16 billion that is expected in August. They also haven’t been included in a third round of $200 billion in goods that the Trump administration identified earlier this month…

But now, President Donald Trump is threatening levies on a total of $500 billion in imports, which would cover just about everything China ships to the U.S., including iPhones, trade experts say…

“They should be nervous,” said David Dollar, a China scholar at the Brookings Institution, who was the U.S. Treasury’s top official in Beijing during the Obama administration…

Apple would be a likely target because of the iPhone’s 9% share of China’s smartphone market, according to Mr. Dollar and other trade experts.

My take: I’m not saying the new levies couldn’t cover iPhones. But the Journal is reporting that they would, and it doesn’t have anybody on the record but Mr. Dollar saying so. Pretty thin stuff.

See also:

• NYTimes: Trump promised Cook no tariffs on iPhones
• How Apple stays on China’s good side
• Opinion: Why China and Apple’s relationship is fine, thank you