There is no truce for the big tech companies. This very afternoon, the White House has made official a 104% tariff on imports from China. The decision, which marks a new peak of tension in the trade war unleashed by Donald Trump, has quickly shaken the markets. The consequences have been immediate.
Apple, the big loser. Apple led the falls with a drop of almost 5% in a single day, adding to the accumulated decline of 23% since this new wave of tariffs began last week. The company has seen its market capitalization fall to $2.59 trillion.
This decline has been enough for the Cupertino-based firm to lose the title of the world’s most valuable listed company. The throne goes back to Microsoft, which ended the day with a less pronounced fall (-0.92%), but with a slightly higher capitalization: 2.63 trillion.
A rivalry that remains alive. In recent years, Apple and Microsoft have alternated several times in market leadership. However, since mid-2024, Apple had consolidated its position at the top, possibly boosted by its revenues. Microsoft, on the other hand, began to raise doubts among investors: its commitment to artificial intelligence implied increasing expenditure and it was not clear when the return would come.
Chain reactions. Apple was not the only one to suffer. Other big tech companies also closed in the red. NVIDIA, the third largest company in the world by market capitalization, fell 1.37%. Amazon fell 2.62%, while Alphabet (Google) lost 1.78%. Nor has ASML, the Dutch semiconductor giant, been spared, which suffered a fall of 3.32%.
The origin of the conflict. Part of this climate began last week, when the Trump administration decided to reactivate commercial pressure on China with a 34% tariff on certain products. The measure was presented as a “reciprocal” action, but it was not well received in Beijing. The Ministry of Commerce responded with a warning: “If the United States insists on going its own way, China will fight to the end.”
Trump issued an ultimatum: if China did not back down by Tuesday, he would impose a new 50% tariff. Beijing did not give in, and neither did Washington. In fact, in the last few hours it had emerged that the Chinese government was even considering banning the distribution of American films.
The result: escalation confirmed. The lack of agreement has led to the announcement that has caused the markets to explode: the new 50% tariff comes into force this Wednesday, just after midnight in Washington. Added to the already existing 20% tariffs and the 34% tariffs announced last week, the total reaches 104%.
