Apple and Tech Giants Plummet in Historic Market Selloff
Technology stocks suffered their worst decline in years Thursday as President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs triggered a global market selloff. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged more than 5%, heading toward its steepest single-session drop in over five years, as investors grappled with the potential disruption to international supply chains critical to the sector.
Apple led the retreat among major tech companies, with shares plummeting more than 8% in what could be the iPhone maker’s worst trading day since 2020. The company, which relies on China for more than 90% of its manufacturing according to Citi’s estimates, now faces potentially devastating cost increases that could severely impact its profitability.
Rosenblatt Securities calculated that Apple could face “$39.5 billion of tariff costs,” according to Yahoo Finance, adding that “if these costs were just eaten by Apple, we estimate a near 32% hit to operating profit and EPS, annualized.” This potential erosion of profitability explains investors’ rush to exit positions in the world’s most valuable company.
Supply Chain Disruption Threatens Tech Manufacturing
The new tariff structure, which includes a baseline 10% on all imports plus higher country-specific rates, particularly threatens tech companies with manufacturing operations across Asia. China faces a combined 54% tariff, while Vietnam — a popular manufacturing alternative to China in recent years — was hit with a 46% rate. These rates will directly impact hardware producers across the tech sector.
PC makers Dell and HP saw their shares nosedive approximately 15% and 12% respectively, as analysts estimate they could face cost increases of 10-25% per unit. “That would add between $200 and $500 in costs per unit,” Tony Redondo, Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange, told Reuters, creating a difficult choice between accepting margin compression or raising prices in an already sluggish PC market.
Semiconductor stocks faced similar devastation despite not being specifically named in reciprocal tariffs, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF dropping 7.2%. Micron Technology was particularly hard hit, sinking more than 14%, while Arm Holdings, Marvell Technology, and Broadcom all fell more than 8% each, according to CNBC.
Apple stock after 20 minutes of President Trump's speech 😮😮 pic.twitter.com/OPmYCB953X
— LoMo 🥷🏻 (@LeLoMoStudio) April 2, 2025
Economic Growth Concerns Amplify Market Panic
The market selloff extended beyond technology into virtually all sectors except pharmaceuticals, which received a temporary exemption from the new tariffs. Even energy stocks declined sharply despite oil imports being excluded from the tariff list, as broader economic concerns drove crude prices down more than 7%.
Economists warned that the tariffs could significantly hamper U.S. economic growth and potentially trigger a global recession. “These actions could potentially shave 1 to 1.5 percentage points from (U.S.) growth this year — meaningfully raising recession risks,” Deutsche Bank Senior US Economist Brett Ryan cautioned.
Major retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Target, which depend heavily on Asian suppliers, saw their shares drop between 4% and 11%. The S&P 500 retail index fell 6.8% to its lowest level since September 2024, reflecting concerns that companies will either need to absorb higher costs or pass them on to consumers, potentially accelerating inflation.
International Response and Market Outlook
China’s Ministry of Commerce immediately urged the U.S. to “immediately cancel” the tariffs and promised “resolute counter-measures,” raising the specter of an escalating trade war that could further disrupt global supply chains and market stability.
Major financial institutions also faced significant pressure, with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America dropping between 7% and 11% as investors priced in increased economic risk. Regional banks experienced similar declines, with the KRW Regional bank index shedding 8.8%.
The market turmoil represents a sharp reversal from the optimism that drove U.S. stocks to record highs earlier this year on expectations of business-friendly policies. Instead, these sweeping tariffs — described by Fitch Ratings as pushing U.S. tariffs to their highest level in more than a century — have injected significant uncertainty into both domestic and global markets.
As corporate boardrooms worldwide scramble to assess the impact on their supply chains and profit margins, investors appear to be bracing for a protracted period of volatility and potential economic contraction.
