Apple just reported lower-than-expected revenues for the last quarter, and President Trump's economic adviser thinks it won't be alone.
On Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook blamed "rising trade tensions" between China and the U.S. for the $5 billion gap between its projected and actual earnings. And in a Thursday appearance on CNN, Trump's top economic adviser Kevin Hassett said "a heck of a lot of" American companies will probably do the same.
The chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers said Apple's lower earnings results are "something that one should expect" amid Trump's trade war with China. If the two countries don't reach a deal soon, "there are a heck of a lot of U.S. companies" that will see "their earnings being downgraded next year," Hassett said. But a weakening Chinese economy also "puts a lot of pressure on China to make a deal," he added.
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Trump has waged a trade war with China for months on end, levying tariffs on manufacturers Apple depends on to build its products. That seemingly took its toll as Apple reported fourth quarter earnings of $84 billion on Wednesday, far below its estimates of between $89 billion and $93 billion. Those estimates largely depended on Apple's "emerging markets," including China, but the country's "economic deceleration" starting in mid-2018 curbed Apple's growth, Cook said.
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