"We’ll look into that", Trump said on Wednesday when asked about the tariff exemption. "We have to treat Apple on a somewhat similar basis as we treat Samsung".
Trump made the comments after touring an Apple facility in Austin with the company’s CEO Tim Cook.
In September, Apple said that an exemption from US duties on imported electronic components from China has prompted the US tech giant to assemble the next version of its Mac Pro computer in Texas.
in August, Trump said following a private dinner with Cook that Apple CEO had made a "very compelling argument" tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese imports are hurting US companies like Apple, but not its South Korean competitor Samsung.
The trade row between the world’s two largest economies erupted in June 2018 when the United States imposed the first round of tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond in kind. Since then, the two countries have been engaged in a full-blown trade war.
In October, Trump announced he had agreed in principle to the "Phase One" trade deal with China after high-level negotiations in Washington, DC.
The Phase One deal is expected to cover key trade issues that have been subject to disagreement, including intellectual property, financial services and US agricultural exports. Trump said earlier that China had also agreed to purchase $40 to $50 billion of US agricultural goods under the trade deal.
On Tuesday, however, Trump announced that he would raise tariffs on Chinese products and services if ongoing trade negotiations do not end with a deal.
