Apple adds $400 billion to its market cap in one day, thanks to Donald Trump

Apple’s stock experienced a dramatic 15% surge, fueled by US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause on his administration's “reciprocal tariffs.” As per a report by CNBC, the stock rally propelled Apple's market capitalisation by over $400 billion, bringing it close to the $3 trillion mark, on April 9. If the tariffs had been implemented, it would have significantly impacted iPhone maker’s production facilities in Vietnam, India and Thailand.
Notably, this represented Apple’s most significant single-day gain since January 1998, a period when the late Steve Jobs served as interim CEO, and three years before the launch of the iPod. At that time, Apple's market capitalisation was approximately $3 billion.
Apple was the most vulnerable tech giant to Trump's tariff policies, experiencing its worst four-day trading period since 2000 prior to the surge. Investor concerns stemmed from Apple's continued reliance on physical device sales, which necessitate imports into the US from countries like India and China.
While the 90-day pause provided relief for Apple's diversified production locations, the company remains exposed to tariffs on goods manufactured in China, where a significant portion of its iPhones and other hardware is still produced. Trump increased tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% on Wednesday, up from 54%.
Furthermore, China's imposition of an 84% tariff on US goods this week raised concerns that Apple could be caught in a trade war, potentially impacting its market share in China, its third-largest sales region.
The tariff pause specifically addressed production in Vietnam and India. Tariffs on Vietnamese goods were reduced from 46% to 10%, and tariffs on Indian goods were cut from 26% to 10%. This development opens the possibility for Apple to serve a substantial portion of its US customer base from factories outside of China with significantly lower tariff rates.
Apple airlifted five planeloads of iPhones and other products from India to the US within a three-day span during the last week of March, a high-ranking Indian official confirmed to The Times of India. These expedited shipments were undertaken to circumvent the reciprocal tariff imposed by theTrump administration.