Who are the tech winners and losers of Donald Trump’s sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs?
As U.S. President Donald Trump escalated a global trade conflict with numerous countries around the world on Wednesday, even targeting an area populated exclusively by penguins, growing market uncertainties led to significant declines in the stock prices of large technology firms.
Shares of Meta, Nvidia, Apple, and Amazon dropped by 5% to 13% following Trump’s statement, as reported by Google finance records.
Although some have already experienced negative impacts, other businesses might escape the most severe consequences following his statement.
The following are two technology-focused sectors that emerge in significantly differing circumstances post-Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs.
Winners: Semiconductors (and AI)
A notable exception to President Trump's extensive new tariff plans is the semiconductor sector, as stated in an official factsheet released by his administration.
This indicates that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a key participant in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, is not subject to the 32 percent duties imposed on goods from Taiwan.
The firm provides semiconductor chips to U.S. firms fueling the AI revolution, such as NVIDIA, which subsequently offer the computational resources required by OpenAI and Google to operate their chatbots.
This might also suggest that ASML, the large Dutch company supplying essential equipment for the semiconductor industry to produce their chips, could potentially receive an exemption from the 20 percent general tariff imposed on products made in the European Union.
Euronews Next contacted TSMC and ASML to get their response regarding the tariff exemptions.
We didn’t get an instant response from ASML, and TSMC chose not to comment.
Earlier this month, TSMC declared plans to increase its spending in the United States by $100 billion (€90 billion), which will be allocated towards constructing three new fabrication plants, state-of-the-art packaging facilities, and a research and development center in Arizona. This brings their overall U.S. investment up to $165 billion (€148.57 billion).
The White House characterized this action as the "biggest foreign direct investment in U.S. history."
As an anticipation of Wednesday’s announcement, ASML forecasted in December when speaking to the business magazine Fortune that US tariffs would barely affect the company’s financial situation for 2025.
Losers: E-commerce
On Wednesday, Trump issued an executive order concurrently with the introduction of new tariffs, aimed at closing a trade gap that allowed goods arriving from China and Hong Kong via major online retailers such as Shein, Temu, and Amazon to bypass previous regulations.
The de minimis exemption permitted China-based retail behemoths to deliver parcels directly to U.S. customers with values under $800 (€720) duty-free.
Now, the executive order subjects any of these goods to a 30 per cent duty rate or $25 (€22.51) per item, which will increase to $50 (€45.02) per item by June 1.
Trump’s executive order also accuses the Chinese of using “deceptive shipping practices,” and “hiding illicit substances” like opioids in their packaging.
The order states that although the US once provided a substantial de minimis exemption, China imposes rigorous import limitations… demonstrating no comparable tolerance for US cargo.
Through this loophole, Chinese vendors have expanded their presence on Amazon, capturing over 50 percent of the market, whereas American sellers account for approximately 45 percent, as indicated by research from Marketplace Pulse.
Recently, Amazon has introduced a section of their website dedicated to affordable items manufactured in China, aiming to rival platforms like Temu and Shein.
Euronews Next contacted Amazon for their response regarding the implemented tariffs, but they did not get a reply by the time of publishing.
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