Apple on Thursday lost more than USD250 billion in market value as its shares lost value by close to 8.5 per cent as the market reacted to President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.

The manufacturer of iPhone suffered one of the biggest hits on Wall Street where shares in top tech firms tanked as investors reacted by moving their cash away from unstable assets.

Tesla, Nvidia, and Meta shares lost value by 6 per cent, while Amazon stocks went down by 7.2 per cent as the US stock market adjusted to President Trump’s Wednesday tariff orgy.

In an announcement on Wednesday, Trump slapped a unilateral tariff of at least 10 per cent on 185 countries, including Kenya, with the controversial reciprocal tax measures coming into effect on April 5, 2025.

According to Trump, the tariffs are not being used by the US as a negotiating tool but as a measure to boost its local manufacturing sector and will “liberate” the American economy.

Read More

  1. Kenya responds to Trump’s 10 per cent reciprocal tariffs on all Kenyan exports
  2. Trump slaps Kenya, 184 other countries with tough reciprocal tariffs (FULL LIST)
  3. STELLA MAMBO: African markets push for financial reforms amid global shifts

The tariffs on all goods imported into the US adversely affect Apple given its biggest contractors and manufacturing centers are in China, India, Vietnam and Taiwan in Asia.

The tariffs, which will essentially affect all iPhone, iPad, and Mac models as well as their accessories, came as Apple CEO Tim Cook had made frantic efforts to seduce Trump.

All eyes are on Cook to see if he will opt to pass the cost on Apple products to consumers or the tech giant will ingest the losses and deny itself tens of billions of dollars in possible profits.