There is no truce for large technological ones. This same afternoon, the White House has made official a 104% tariff to imports from China. The decision, which marks a new tension peak in the commercial war that Donald Trump unleashed, has not taken to agitate the markets. The consequences have been immediate.
Apple, the great victim. Although in Spain it is almost midnight, in The east of the United States the markets have just closed with red numbers. Apple led the falls with a collapse of almost 5% in a single day, which adds to the accumulated retreat of 23% since this new wave of tariffs began last week. The company has seen how its stock capitalization fell to 2.59 billion dollars.
Apple’s collapse | Image: Yahoo Finance
That decrease has been enough for Cupertino’s firm to lose the most valuable quoted company title in the world. The throne is again for Microsoft, which has closed the day with a less pronounced fall (-0.92%), but with a slightly higher capitalization: 2.63 billion.
A rivalry that remains alive. In recent years, Apple and Microsoft have alternated several times leadership in the markets. However, since mid -2024, Apple had established itself at the top, possibly driven by its income. Microsoft, on the other hand, began to generate doubts among investors: its commitment to artificial intelligence implied an increasing expense and it was not clear when the return would come.
Falls in chain. The punishment has not been exclusive to Apple. Other great technology have also closed in red. Nvidia, third company for stock market capitalization globally, has dropped 1.37%. Amazon has retreated 2.62%, while Alphabet (Google) has lost 1.78%. Nor has Asml, the Dutch giant of the semiconductors, who has suffered a 3.32%drop.
Original table of “reciprocal” tariffs published on April 2 | Image: The White House
The origin of the conflict. Part of this weather 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 in Beijing it did not like. The Ministry of Commerce responded with a warning: “If the United States insists on following its own path, China will fight until the end.”
Trump imposed an ultimatum: if China did not turn before Tuesday, it would impose a new 50%tariff. Beijing did not yield, and Washington either. In fact, in the last hours it had transpired that the Chinese government even valued the distribution of American films.
The result: confirmed climbing. The lack of agreement has led to the announcement that the markets have exploded: the new 50% tariff enters force this Wednesday, just after midnight in Washington. In addition to the existing levies of 20%already those announced last week of 34%, the total reaches 104%.
Images | WorldOfSoftware with chatgpt | Screen capture | Sam Torres
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