Apple is once again in the crosshairs of a global trade war. This time, the stakes may be even higher.
On April 2, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on a wide range of imported goods, including those from China, India, Vietnam and other countries critical to Apple’s supply chain. That move sent shockwaves through global markets, wiping out over $640 billion in Apple’s market value in just five days.
“It’s the most head-scratching, absurd policy move we’ve seen in years,” said Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities. “Apple is in the eye of the storm.”
CNBC technology reporter Kif Leswing calls it a “massive moment for Apple.”
“Even with all their efforts to diversify production, the company still depends on China, and now they’re facing tariffs from nearly every country they manufacture in,” Leswing said.
While the stock rebounded on Wednesday after Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for select nations, the broader uncertainty around Apple’s global manufacturing model hasn’t gone away. China tariffs remain at a staggering 145%.
“No company is more impacted by this tariff Armageddon than Apple,” Ives said.
Apple still assembles 90% of its iPhones in China, largely through its partnership with Foxconn. China also handles 80% of iPads and over half of Mac computers, according to Evercore ISI.
“Apple’s been trying to get ahead of this,” Leswing said. “They’ve been making iPhones in India, assembling Macs in Malaysia, sourcing from Vietnam, but those countries are now seeing tariffs too. That puts Apple in a really tough spot.”
India, Vietnam and Thailand were all key parts of Apple’s post-COVID diversification strategy. Under Trump’s new plan, imports from many of those countries face tariffs as high as 26% to 46%, although the president reduced most tariffs to 10% on Wednesday.
Still, the message from the White House is clear: Apple needs to make products in the U.S.
In theory, tariffs are meant to bring jobs and production back to the U.S. In practice, moving high-tech manufacturing out of China is neither fast nor cheap.
“If you want an iPhone made in the U.S. and you want it for $3,500, we should make it here,” said Ives. “If you want it for $1,000, you keep it in China.”
The iPhone 16 Pro Max currently starts at $1,199, but one UBS estimate shows that new tariffs could raise the price by $350. Erik Woodring of Morgan Stanley estimates Apple may need to increase prices across the board by 17% to 18% to cover the added cost.
Apple has started building some iPhones in India and iPads in Vietnam, but the company remains heavily reliant on China’s infrastructure, skilled labor force, and dense manufacturing network.
“It would take decades just to move 10% of Apple’s supply chain to the U.S.,” Ives said. “The global supply chain is built in Asia.”
As panic rippled through the markets, Apple kept quiet. The company has declined to comment publicly on the tariffs and has offered no updated guidance to suppliers or shareholders.
That stands in contrast to 2019, when CEO Tim Cook personally lobbied the first Trump administration to exempt iPhones from a previous round of tariffs, and succeeded. This time, no carve-outs have been announced.
“It’s kind of a cipher right now, what Tim Cook is cooking up in Cupertino,” said Leswing. “They’ve said very little.”
According to reporting from 9To5Mac, Apple has started modeling out different tariff scenarios and even chartered at least five planes in late March to stockpile products before tariffs took effect.
Analysts say Apple’s options are limited in the short term. The company is expected to delay price hikes until its next product cycle, likely with the iPhone 17, but that could impact demand in a cooling smartphone market.
Apple already faces pressure over its slow rollout of artificial intelligence features and stagnating hardware innovation. If the tariffs remain in place, or escalate further, the ripple effects could be massive.
“This could throw the U.S. into a self-inflicted recession,” Ives said.
So far, investors are watching closely for signs of a shift in strategy or a more forceful response from Apple leadership.
“Apple is the poster child for the trade war,” said Leswing. “And right now, they’re not saying much at all.”
Watch the video to understand how tariffs are shaking Apple’s supply chain and what it could mean for your next iPhone.
Signage at 23andMe headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is investigating 23andMe‘s decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has expressed concern that its sensitive genetic data is “at risk of being compromised,” CNBC has learned.
Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and Rep. Gary Palmer, R.-Ala., sent a letter to 23andMe’s interim CEO Joe Selsavage on Thursday requesting answers to a series of questions about its data and privacy practices by May 1.
The congressmen are the latest government officials to raise concerns about 23andMe’s commitment to data security, as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Federal Trade Commission have sent the company similar letters in recent weeks.
23andMe exploded into the mainstream with its at-home DNA testing kits that gave customers insight into their family histories and genetic profiles. The company was once valued at a peak of $6 billion, but has since struggled to generate recurring revenue and establish a lucrative research and therapeutics businesses.
After filing for bankruptcy in in Missouri federal court in March, 23andMe’s assets, including its vast genetic database, are up for sale.
“With the lack of a federal comprehensive data privacy and security law, we write to express our great concern about the safety of Americans’ most sensitive personal information,” Guthrie, Bilirakis and Palmer wrote in the letter.
23andMe did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
More CNBC health coverage
23andMe has been inundated with privacy concerns in recent years after hackers accessed the information of nearly 7 million customers in 2023.
DNA data is particularly sensitive because each person’s sequence is unique, meaning it can never be fully anonymized, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. If genetic data falls into the hands of bad actors, it could be used to facilitate identity theft, insurance fraud and other crimes.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has jurisdiction over issues involving data privacy. Guthrie serves as the chairman of the committee, Palmer serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and Bilirakis serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.
The congressmen said that while Americans’ health information is protected under legislation like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, direct-to-consumer companies like 23andMe are typically not covered under that law. They said they feel “great concern” about the safety of the company’s customer data, especially given the uncertainty around the sale process.
23andMe has repeatedly said it will not change how it manages or protects consumer data throughout the transaction. Similarly, in a March release, the company said all potential buyers must agree to comply with its privacy policy and applicable law.
“To constitute a qualified bid, potential buyers must, among other requirements, agree to comply with 23andMe’s consumer privacy policy and all applicable laws with respect to the treatment of customer data,” 23andMe said in the release.
23andMe customers can still delete their account and accompanying data through the company’s website. But Guthrie, Bilirakis and Palmer said there are reports that some users have had trouble doing so.
“Regardless of whether the company changes ownership, we want to ensure that customer access and deletion requests are being honored by 23andMe,” the congressmen wrote.
A motorcycle is seen near a building of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on April 16, 2025.
“TSMC is not engaged in any discussion with other companies regarding any joint venture, technology licensing or technology,” CEO C.C. Wei said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, dispelling rumors about a collaboration with Intel.
Intel and TSMC were said to have been looking to form a JV as recently as this month. On April 3, The Information reported that the two firms discussed a preliminary agreement to form a tie-up to operate Intel’s chip factories with TSMC owning a 21% stake.
Intel was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC on Wei’s comments on Thursday. The company previously said it doesn’t comment on rumors, when asked by CNBC about the reported discussions.
TSMC’s denial of tie-up talks with Intel comes as President Donald Trump is pushing to address global trade imbalances and reshore manufacturing in the U.S. through tariffs. The Department of Commerce recently kicked off an investigation into semiconductor imports — a move that could result in new tariffs for the chip industry.
TSMC reported a profit beatfor the first quarter thanks to a continued surge in demand for AI chips. However, the company contends with potential headwinds from Trump’s tariffs — which target Taiwan — and stricter export controls on TSMC clients Nvidia and AMD.
A motorcycle is seen near a building of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on April 16, 2025.
Here are TSMC’s first-quarter results versus LSEG consensus estimates:
Revenue: $839.25 billion New Taiwan dollars, vs. NT$835.13 billion expected
Net income: NT$361.56 billion, vs. NT$354.14 billion
TSMC’s reported net income increased 60.3% from a year ago to NT$361.56 billion, while net revenue in the March quarter rose 41.6% from a year earlier to NT$839.25 billion.
The world’s largest contract chip manufacturer has benefited from the AI boom as it produces advanced processors for clients such American chip designer Nvidia.
However, the company faces headwinds from the trade policy of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has placed broad trade tariffs on Taiwan and stricter export controls on TSMC clients Nvidia and AMD.
Semiconductor export controls could also be expanded next month under the “AI diffusion rules” first proposed by the Biden administration, further restricting the sales of chipmakers that use TSMC foundries.
Taiwan currently faces a blanket 10% tariff from the Trump administration and that could rise to 32% after the President’s 90-day pause of his “reciprocal tariffs” ends unless it reaches a deal with the U.S.
As part of efforts to diversify its supply chains, TSMC has been investing billions in overseas facilities, though the lion’s share of its manufacturing remains in Taiwan.
In an apparent response to Trump’s trade policy, TSMC last month announced plans to invest an additional $100 billion in the U.S. on top of the $65 billion it has committed to three plants in the U.S.
On Monday, AMD said it would soon manufacture processor chips at one of the new Arizona-based TSMC facilities, marking the first time that its chips will be manufactured in the U.S.
The same day, Nvidia announced that it has already started production of its Blackwell chips at TSMC’s Arizona plants. It plans to produce up to half a trillion dollars of AI infrastructure in the U.S. over the next four years through partners, including TSMC.
Taiwan-listed shares of TSMC were down about 0.4%. Shares have lost about 20% so far this year.