A U.S. federal court ruling has blocked a proposed set of tariffs that could have pushed up the price of higher-end iPhones to upwards of $4000.
The Trump administration had pushed for a 25% tariff on all iPhones produced outside the US as part of a broader trade war strategy against imported goods. However, according to CNET, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the tariffs overstepped presidential authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In its decision, the court emphasized that the executive branch cannot unilaterally impose such sweeping trade penalties without proper legislative oversight.
iPhones Could Have Been Much More Expensive
The ruling represents a significant legal win for Apple as tariffs would have steeply increased production costs. This would have driven up retail prices to unaffordable levels. For instance, the iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1TB of storage could have cost more than $4,300. Similarly, the budget iPhone 16E with 128GB of storage could have cost $1,617 under an aggressive tariff structure. Therefore, by avoiding the tariff, Apple can maintain pricing consistency for new iPhones, which marks a sigh of relief for consumers.
Nonetheless, CNET estimates that a price increase of $50 to $130 is still likely for the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup. However, that’s not much considering the worst-case scenario that has been avoided due to the court’s ruling.
