Want to know how you can tell this didn't happen to Apple innocently and unknowingly? If they were actually innocent and unknowing they'd certainly say so, and make a coherent legal argument to back up that point of view.
The post we're all commenting on has some bullshit black and white pictures and stories about shit that happened in Cork Ireland in 1980 and Steve Jobs feelings and whatnot.
Q.E.D.
Yes, what you said is that ridiculous.
If you want to get an opinion from the US Federal Government on how to account for a transaction for tax purposes there is in fact a procedure for that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_letter_ruling
One in the business of importing phones from another country who has questions about competing taxation and tariff rules has many options for getting guidance on the implications of their accounting.
And nothing that happened in this matter was shocking or surprising to Apple. They have elaborate tax avoidance schemes. For example, they didn't like trip and fall and land on a convoluted Double Irish arrangement by accident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Irish_arrangement
It depends who do you mean with everyone? In this case the only party which should have been asked would have been the EU, which doesn't sound mad at all in my opinion.
Should Tesla be worried that the United States Federal Government might deem Nevada's special tax deal invalid?