Trump says that Tim Cook did 'good thing' that trade war is helping Samsung over Apple

President Donald Trump says that Apple CEO Tim Cook "gave a very compelling argument" that tariffs on China will hamper Apple's ability to compete with Samsung. The pair had dinner Friday night at the president's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Trump described the conversation to reporters from publications including Bloomberg, CNBC and Fox News on their way back to Washington.

"I had a really good meeting with Tim Cook," Trump said . “I have a lot of respect for Tim Cook, and Tim talked to me about tariffs. And one of the things, and he made a good case, is that Samsung is their number one competitor, and Samsung doesn't pay tariffs because they're based in South Korea. "

" And it's tough for Apple to pay tariffs if they compete with a very good company, it's not. I said, 'How good a competitor?' He said they are a very good competitor. So Samsung does not pay tariffs because they have somewhere else, mainly South Korea, but they are based in South Korea. And I thought he made a very convincing argument, so I think about it. ”

Most of Apple's products are collected in China and will be subject to a 10 percent additional tax later this year. This will take effect September 1 for products such as Apple Watch and AirPods, although the lineup for iPhone, iPad and MacBook will not hit until December 15 after a delay to accommodate the holiday shopping season.

Samsung has a more diversified supply chain, with much of its production located in South Korea and Vietnam. As such, the company will not be hit as hard by the Trump administration's ongoing trade war with China. Apple is said to be looking at moving more of its production elsewhere.

Trump spoke on Cook's dinner on Twitter on Friday night, saying Apple “will spend huge sums in the United States. Great! "Although he does not appear to have mentioned any details of further US investment in his comments to journalists.