US president Donald Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on countries around the world. But in doing this, Trump is raising the import prices for some of the largest US companies. Predictably, they’ve dropped in the market. What’s more, the US president himself owns shares in some of the companies.
While we have the world’s smallest violin for these huge companies, is this what Trump wants?
Trump tariffs backfiring – majorly
Take Apple. The trillion pound company has supply and manufacturing chains all around the world, including in China, India, Vietnam and Taiwan. And Trump hit all these countries with tariffs: China at 54%, India at 27%, Vietnam at 46% and Taiwan at 32%. Import tariffs such as these have resulted in Apple’s share prices dropping 9%, wiping £191 billion from its value. The US president owns shares in Apple worth £382,000.
Analysts at Rosenblatt Securities said Apple could raise iPhone prices by 43% because of the tariffs. That’s if they pass the costs on to consumers, despite Apple making net profit of £72 billion in 2024.
The tariffs have also impacted retail giants such as Amazon, Walmart and Target. All of these companies saw a share drop of more than 10% in March.
Trump is going further than his trade wars in his last administration. Everyone knows how damaging it is to American companies themselves (and say US farmers who are then hit with retaliatory tariffs). So the policies may not result in good faith favourable trade deals for the US. This is not a surprise from Trump who has bankrupted six of his own businesses.
Indeed, China responded:
There is no winner in a trade war, and there is no way out for protectionism
As the second largest economy, the country has promised countermeasures.
In response to all this, the UK could look to forge new relationships with other nations in order to provide an effective response to Trump’s tariffs. The US president imposed tariffs of 10% on UK imports. And business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told MPs that the Britain could retaliate with its own tariffs.
But with Keir Starmer acting as a midwife to the far right through ushering in Nigel Farage and Reform in the UK, it’s unlikely they will properly stand up to Trump.
Featured image via the Canary
