SAN FRANCISCO • US trade regulators have approved 10 out of 15 requests for tariff exemptions filed by Apple amid a broader reprieve on levies on computer parts, according to a public docket published by the United States Trade Representative and a Federal Register notice.

The move by US officials last Friday could make it easier for both Apple and small makers of gaming computers to assemble devices in the US by lowering the costs of importing parts.

Apple did not say why it requested the exemptions, but the requests were for components such as partially completed circuit boards.

Apple manufactures its Mac Pro computers in Texas, making it immune to tariffs, but such intermediate parts were subject to the levies.

Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Mac Pro computer starts at US$6,000 (S$8,260) and is intended for users such as music and motion picture studios. Due to its specialised design, the device has never sold in large numbers.

But it became a political flashpoint earlier this year when The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was moving production to China.

Apple never publicly commented on its exact production plans, but US tariffs on Chinese goods complicated the assembly of PCs in the US.

The third list of US tariffs that went into effect last year placed levies on both some fully assembled PCs as well as the major components to make them, meaning manufacturers faced cost increases even if they made machines in the US.

Apple applied for the exemptions for some components but President Donald Trump said US regulators would not grant them.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook later said during the company's July 30 earnings call that Apple wanted to keep making Mac Pros in the US.

"We want to continue to be here," he told analysts on the call, adding that Apple was investing in capacity to do so.

REUTERS