The American company Apple lost about 250 billion dollars in market value on April 3, which made it one of the biggest victims of Donald Trump’s tariff policy. About this informs Financial Times.
Apple CEO Tim Cook tried to mend relations with the White House, but these efforts did not bear fruit. Shares of the company fell 8.5% after opening trading in New York on Thursday, as a result of which Apple’s market capitalization decreased from $3.37 trillion to $3.12 trillion.
Trump’s tariffs on imports from Asian countries have hit key areas of supply and production for Apple – China, Taiwan, India and Vietnam. The new tariffs will affect almost all of the company’s products: iPhone, iPad, Mac and accessories. Currently, Cook faced a difficult decision — either to raise the prices of products, or to cover additional costs with his own funds. The latter option could cut Apple’s profits by tens of billions of dollars.
Citi analysts point out that more than 90% of Apple’s production capacity is concentrated in China, and it is Chinese goods that are subject to tariffs of at least 54%. Vietnam and India, which manufacture an increasing number of the company’s products, including the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch, are subject to tariffs of 46% and 26%, respectively. Semiconductor products are not yet subject to the new tariffs, which temporarily shield Apple, which buys chips from Taiwan’s TSMC, from a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan.
TSMC’s new plant in Arizona is expected to receive a significant portion of the investment that Apple and Nvidia have promised to direct to US manufacturing. However, its expansion could become more expensive due to a new 20% tariff on imports from the European Union, including equipment from Dutch microchip maker ASML.
According to analysts at Citi, the Chinese tariffs could reduce Apple’s gross margin by 9% if the company cannot avoid them. According to Jefferies, 37 million iPhones will be imported into the US from China in 2025, which could reduce the company’s net profit by 14%.
