The Big Story 

Apple expects to face $1.1 billion in tariff-related costs next quarter on top of $800 million from the prior three months.

© Alberto Pezzali, Associated Press

The iPhone-maker, which has been hit particularly hard by President Trump’s tariff push, still reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $94 billion in revenue and $23.4 billion in net income for the stretch between April and June.  

Apple sold $44.5 billion worth of iPhones last quarter, up 13 percent from the same three-month period last year, at least part of which the company attributed to consumers trying to get ahead of tariffs.

“We would estimate the pull-forward of demand into April specifically to be about one point of the 10 points in terms of people buying because of discussions about tariffs,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday, referencing the 10 percent uptick in sales last quarter. 

The company has found itself in a tricky position on tariffs in Trump’s second term.

It has long manufactured most of its products in China but has increasingly sought to diversify its supply chain by moving some production to India and Vietnam. 

This has been less than beneficial given the president’s wide-ranging approach to tariffs this time around. Trump initially hit all three countries with hefty “reciprocal” tariffs before putting most on pause. 

Tariffs on Chinese goods remained in place, as Washington and Beijing went tit for tat on import taxes, raising levies on one another to 145 percent and 125 percent, respectively. 

The two sides eventually struck an agreement to lower their tariffs to 30 percent and 10 percent, a truce they agreed to extend Tuesday for an additional 90 days. 

In the meantime, Apple has shifted more production to India, prompting the country to overtake China as the leading exporter of smartphones to the U.S. last quarter.

Check out the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, I’m Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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Crypto Corner 

SEC launches Project Crypto

© AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins is launching a new initiative to update securities rules and regulations to “enable America’s financial markets to move on-chain.”

Atkins announced his plans for Project Crypto on Thursday, directing agency staff to develop proposals for implementing recommendations from the Trump administration’s recent crypto report.

The 166-page report from the president’s digital assets working group offered detailed guidance to Congress and federal regulators on everything from crypto oversight to taxation to banking rules. 

It notably urged both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to “use their existing authorities to immediately enable the trading of digital assets at the federal level.”

Atkins said Thursday he is directing SEC staff to draft rules on crypto asset distributions, custody and trading, in addition to considering authorities to “make sure that archaic rules and regulations do not smother innovation and entrepreneurship in America.”

For instance, the SEC chair said he has tasked his staff with developing guidelines to determine when a crypto asset is a security or subject to an investment contract (which also falls under the agency’s purview).

He also called for fit-for-purpose disclosures, exemptions and safe harbors for crypto transactions that are covered by securities laws.

Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

In Other News 

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

Google loses appeal in antitrust battle with Fortnite maker

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a jury verdict condemning Google’s Android app store as an illegal monopoly, clearing the way for a federal judge to enforce a potentially disruptive shakeup that’s designed to give consumers more choices.