Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook maintained close contacts with United States President Donald Trump's administration in a bid to ensure that his company would be exempted from tariffs on imports from China, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.

According to the report, Cook held a phone call with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week to discuss the impacts of duties on iPhone prices. Additionally, he spoke with other top officials and avoided criticizing Trump's trade policy in public.

During the same week, Trump decided to exempt from import levies electronic products that Apple manufactures in China, although his senior trade advisor, Peter Navarro, insisted that tariffs should remain in place, the sources said.