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Hey Expedia... what's the typical spread[1] on your currency dealings? 25-30% is not that unusual especially at Airports and tourist hot spots. Reduce your spread across the board and a few of us might listen. [1] Spread is the difference between the buying and selling rates on currency exchanges.

What would happen if Apple pulled out of China? Apple stock would crash and burn. Most of their hardware is made in China or with components that are made in China. Apple pulling out of China is a two-edged sword. They (Apple) both make and sell product in the PRC. If they stop selling there, then the Chinese Government could make building stuff very difficult. Then they could make getting the product out of china difficult. With nothing to sell Apple stock would plummet. It would also bring down the whole tech sector. For some in the USA, this would be a good thing but for millions who have tech stocks in their 401K's this would be a financial disaster. What price the re-election of this 'gang of four' representatives then? 5000/1?

Apple isn't the only very large US company to do business with China. Virtually all major US companies have some form of trading relationship with the PRC. If Apple agrees to their demands then who is next? Boeing? GM? Disney? JPMC? Who? If those politicians are suggesting that each and every US company stop trading with China then they really have no clue about global trade. The Chinese will certainly retaliate and call in the huge amounts of US Debt that they hold. What then GOP? That act alone would guarantee that the USA defaults on its debt repayments. That would plunge the world into a very deep depression. These people really do need to be taught about the laws of unintended consequences and how they apply to the US State as a whole. That said, the human rights crimes that the PRC are doing to its citizens is abhorrent. Much worse went on during the cultural revolution but it is still wrong. I'd like the GOP to clean up its own human rights scandal first. Denying US citizens the right to vote is a crime against the constitution but they don't see it like that.

Like the MS stores (multiple attempts), this will be a white elephant. The success will be the millions that Alphabet can write off against Tax due to the losses they encounter on the store. The more they lose, the better for them. Why? I'm sure that there are bonuses to be earned by their VP's for getting the US Government to pay them rather than the other way around. After all, if Amazon can get away with paying zero in corporate taxes then why not them? Cynical? Yes.