Apple won guarantees from the Trump administration that its lucrative iPhones would ship from China without being subject to tariffs, the New York Times reported last month..Seattle-based Amazon is concerned such tariffs would hit shoppers during the crucial holiday shopping season, the person familiar with the matter said.Alcoa said this week it will incur as much as $14 million a month in extra expenses, mainly from tariffs levied on aluminium imported from Canada, its biggest supplier. Amazon has identified a wide range of items, some of the high-value, the tariffs would hit and is assessing the potential impact on its business, the person said.Amazon is discussing industry-wide advertising campaigns and more extensive government lobbying.Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer and cloud-computing company, which could be hurt by tariffs on items sold through its website and components for its data centres, is discussing industry-wide advertising campaigns and more extensive government lobbying, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The chief executive of Alcoa told investors on a conference call this week that the aluminium producer was in “active discussions” with the Trump administration, the Commerce Department and members of Congress about the elimination of tariffs or getting an exception for Canadian aluminium. Eissenstat could not be reached for comment.CLOUD PAINIn addition to the steel and aluminium tariffs already imposed, the Trump administration has threatened 10 per cent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods which would affect thousands of imported products from furniture to network routers.Lobbying administration officials and members of Congress can be costly with no guarantee of victory, but some have succeeded. (Photo: AP) Big companies in the United States from Amazon to Toyota Motor Corp and Alcoa Corp are working to counter the effect of the Trump administration’s trade policies and to head off new tariffs. Amazon declined to comment.Amazon is not alone in the technology industry with its worries. Amazon Web Services is the company’s most profitable unit.
