Trump threatens the EU with 50% tariffs, iPhone Maker Apple accounts for 25%
Wall Street opened on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump recommended 50% tariffs on the EU, while Apple shares warned the company to pay tariffs without issuing calls in the U.S.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 333.4 points, or 0.80% of the disclosure rate. The S&P 500 index fell 60.1 points, or 1.03%, while the Nasdaq comprehensive composite rate fell 303.4 points, or 1.60%.
The president's new trade threat has caused global markets to flow after weeks of lowering, which has left some probation.
Trump threatens to sell any iPhones in the U.S. over 60 million phones a year in the U.S., but the iPhones that are not made are subject to 25% tariffs on Apple, but the country does not have smartphone manufacturing.
He also said he will start 50% tariffs on the EU on June 1, which will lead to efforts on luxury goods, drugmakers and other goods produced by European manufacturers.
The European Commission declined to comment, saying it would wait for a call between EU Trade Director Maros Sefcovic and his U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer.
Trump has not given Apple a warning to give a given schedule.
“I told Tim Cook a long time ago Apple Inc. I hope their iPhone will be sold in the United States and will be made and built in the United States rather than India or anywhere else,” Trump said in a post about truth socialization. “If that is not the case, Apple has to pay the U.S. at least 25% tariffs”
The American-made iPhone is a “fairy tale”: analysts
The White House has been negotiating trade issues with many countries, but progress has been unstable.
Trump's aggressive tariffs in April would raise consumers and businesses would have to pay about 25% of their imports, triggering a sell-off in U.S. assets, including stocks, dollar and Treasury bills. Since then, the market has rebounded.
It is unclear whether Trump can impose tariffs on individual companies. Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
After Trump's taxes on China rose to more than 100% in early April, the White House retreated due to market turmoil, allowing steep tariffs on smartphones and some other electronic products imported from China, a breakthrough for Apple and other Apple companies that rely on imported products.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, a wealth management firm, wrote in a note that he did not see the iPhone migrating to the U.S. in a short term, “because of the inverted cost model and supply chain logistics that are needed for such plans.”
Ives estimates that the price of US-made iPhones is about $3,500, and it will take about five to 10 years to transfer production to the United States.
“We believe that the concept of Apple producing iPhones in the United States is an infeasible fairy tale.”
Apple reportedly aims to get most of its iPhones sold in its factories in India by the end of 2026 and speed up these plans to navigate potential higher tariffs in China, its main manufacturing base.
Apple positioned India as Trump's tariffs on China, which has attracted supply chain attention and fears of rising iPhone prices.
The iPhone maker says most of its smartphones sold in the U.S. will be derived from India in the June quarter.
