Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff war has so far wiped trillions off the market value of publicly traded companies, with the sweeping border taxes of up to 50% poised to wreak havoc on businesses across the world.
US-based global brands from Nike to Apple have suffered some of the heaviest falls in share price and market value, as investors react to fears of price increases and a potential slowdown in consumer spending. Here, we examine some of the most exposed industries and brands.
Technology: Apple and Amazon
Asian countries are a leading target of Trump’s tariffs, led by China which was slapped with a 54% rate on imports to the US, prompting a rout on tech stocks, which lean heavily on the region for components for their products. China quickly retaliated, with 34% tariffs on US goods.
Apple, the world’s most valuable publicly listed company, experienced a fall in market capitalisation of more than $300bn (£230bn) on Thursday in the worst single day drop since 2020 over fears the tariffs will dramatically increase its costs and fuel price increases for products such as its iPhone.
Apple makes most of its hardware in China and two other leading production hubs, India and Vietnam, were also hit with 26% and 46% tariff rates.
Other “Magnificent 7” mega-value tech companies suffered similarly. Amazon, a leading seller of imported goods from across the globe, was stripped of almost $190bn in market value.
China-based sellers have more than 50% market share on Amazon’s third-party seller marketplace, according to MarketPlace Pulse.
Analysts at Bank of America view the tariffs as a “sector negative” for e-commerce.
However, the bank added that large-scale players, such as Amazon and eBay, are better able to substitute sellers and, if prices rise globally, could benefit as they collect commission on the total sale price of an item.
Nvidia, the market leader manufacturing chips crucial to the artificial intelligence boom, lost $210bn from its market valuation after Trump set a 32% tariff on imports from Taiwan where it has its main semiconductor manufacturing facilities.
Fashion: Nike and Gap
Prices of Nike’s signature Jordan sports shoes, Levi’s jeans and Gap clothes are likely to rise in the US as Trump’s tariffs hit the Asian factory hubs that underpin the global garment industry.
Nike’s market value has taken a $13bn hit so far, and suffered one of the biggest proportionate share price falls at more than 14% on Thursday, despite its efforts to reduce manufacturing in China in recent years.
Last year, factories in the heavily tariff-hit countries Vietnam, Indonesia and China manufactured 95% of all Nike brand footwear.
The high tariffs across many leading garment manufacturing countries also threatens significant supply chain cost increases of everything from tracksuits to sweaters.
Almost 60% of all Nike-branded apparel was manufactured in Vietnam, China and Cambodia last year.
However, with nearly 60% of Nike’s total sales coming from outside the US, the sportswear company has some insulation from a potential US recession.
Gap, whose biggest supplier country is Vietnam, was one of the biggest fallers among US-listed stocks with its shares closing down more than a fifth on Thursday. Shares in Levi’s plunged almost 14%, while Under Armour fell by 19%.
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Travel: Boeing and Disney
Fears that the tit-for-tat tariff war might spark a global recession and slowdown in consumer spending meant that travel sector was also hammered by an investor sell-off.
Boeing was among the biggest fallers on Wall Street, and shares in the plane and aerospace manufacturer plunged more than 10%, as Trump’s taxes bring an end to 45 years of almost tariff-free production for the sector.
The end of a World Trade Organization (WTO) deal struck in 1980, which paved the way for mass US commercial jet exports into Europe in particular, means higher manufacturing costs passed on to airline customers and ultimately consumer ticket prices.
Boeing is the largest US exporter by dollar value, exporting about 80% of the commercial airplanes it builds.
Norwegian Cruise Lines was one of the biggest fallers on the S&P 500, down more than 16%, over concerns about a drop in consumer spend on international travel.
Cruise companies including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Viking and Lindblad lost nearly $10bn in market value combined on Thursday.
The world’s biggest entertainment company, Disney, which operates theme parks and cruises, was also one of the biggest fallers among Dow Jones stocks down almost 10%.
Finance: Amex and Goldman Sachs
Although tariffs are levied on products and not services, financial firms were also hit. Experts fear that Trump’s sweeping border taxes, and retaliatory moves by targeted nations, are adding to the risk of a steep global downturn and a recession in the world’s biggest economy.
Shares in the credit card company American Express fell almost 10% as investors reacted to businesses closely tied to consumer spending and credit.
Amex is much smaller than its US-listed global rivals – shares in Visa fell 2% while Mastercard dropped 3% – but has heavy exposure to US consumers.
Almost half of the cards issued by Amex in 2021 were in the US, according to statistics from 2021, the last year that Amex published regional splits.
Shares at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which earlier this week described the sweeping tariffs as a “growth shock” that will hit US consumers, fell almost 10% over fears that merger and acquisition activity may slow as businesses cut back on investments. Shares in its rival Morgan Stanley dropped 9.5% on Thursday.
