Because of Trump's tariffs: Tech stocks plummet again, Apple loses in particular

One day after US President Donald Trump announced massive tariffs for almost every country in the world, Apple is one of the biggest losers on the stock markets. The iPhone company's share price fell by more than 9 percent after the start of trading in New York on Thursday. The Group's supply chains and its production facilities in Asia have been hit particularly hard by the tariffs. Shares in Meta and Amazon each lost more than seven percent, while other tech companies also suffered significant losses in some cases.

Things did not look any better for cryptocurrencies on Thursday, with Bitcoin now trading at around USD 82,000 again, four percent less than on Wednesday. Ethereum has lost even more.

The recent slide on the stock markets was preceded by an unprecedented announcement by Donald Trump. After weeks of threatening a huge tariff package, he announced levies on goods from every country in the world on Wednesday. A flat rate of ten percent will be levied on imports from Saturday, with further duties to be added for many countries according to a complex system. In view of the complicated supply chains and the extremely closely networked global economy, the consequences are unforeseeable. According to Bloomberg, the price slide on Thursday wiped out almost two trillion in capitalization in the first hour after trading began, on the US stock exchanges alone. Things didn't look much better elsewhere.

Among the major tech companies, the trading day started even harder for Dell than for Apple. The hardware manufacturer's shares are currently down by almost 16%, due to particularly complex supply chains, according to Bloomberg. The Swiss company Logitech suffered a loss of over 15 percent on the Zurich stock exchange. The manufacturer of computer accessories does a large part of its business in the USA, but has production facilities in Asia and Mexico. Things could get even worse for the companies with their complicated supply chains if other countries react to Trump's announcement with their own counter-tariffs.

EU still relying on negotiations

For the European Union, Trump's plans mean that exports from its member states to the USA will be subject to a 20 percent tariff from next week. As the world's third-largest economy, Germany is not listed individually in Trump's tariff list, but falls under the provisions for the EU. "Europe's worst economic nightmare has just come true," dpa quotes Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Bank. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also expects immense economic consequences; possible higher prices would primarily harm the financially weakest people.

The concerns have also led to sharp falls on the stock market in Germany. The leading Dax index fell by over 500 points or a good two percentage points on Thursday. It is feared that key industries in particular are at risk, i.e. mechanical engineering, the chemical industry and the pharmaceutical sector. It is not yet known what countermeasures the EU will take. "We are already finalizing the first package of measures in response to the steel tariffs and are now preparing further measures to protect our interests and companies if the negotiations fail," Ursula von der Leyen is quoted as saying by dpa.

(mho)