Apple’s Stocks app showing the current share price at time of writing
Despite a US trade court ruling that Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs are illegal, Apple investors have unexpectedly failed to react to the news, likely assuming there is more chaos to come.
The new court ruling came as the stock market has faced unprecedented volatility following Trump’s April 2, 2025, launch of “reciprocal” tariffs. Those April 2 tariffs were ultimately followed by a 25% tariff levied by Trump ostensibly to punish Tim Cook for not attending an event.
Apple stocks are currently fluctuating, although trending downwards after a very slight surge overnight. At time of writing, the shares were at $201.58, up barely a half-percent on the day.
It’s not as great a movement as might have been predicted, and it remains dramatically lower than the $225.19 that Apple shares were trading at prior to Trump’s first announcements. But it’s clearly markedly better than the approximately $169 it reached by April 9.
The market’s reaction might have been greater since the new court ruling specifically bars every one of what Trump called his “Liberation Day” tariffs. These were the ones imposed on companies importing any items from any country outside the US.
So all global “reciprocal” tariffs, plus the trafficking tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico, are now no longer enforceable. The Trump administration has immediately filed an appeal, however.
It’s not clear how long the appeal process will take, but for now, there’s a window for importers. Apple could repeat its airlifting of iPhone 16 models in this gap before any tariff change, but it’s too early to help with the iPhone 17.
Because of that, and given that there are also some other tariffs that are still in play, it’s far from clear what will happen next. Consequently, the stock market is not yet responding as if the worst of the tariffs is over.
Before the ruling, and before the latest 25% tariff, Apple had estimated it would have to spend $900 million on tariffs alone, during its current June quarter. That appears to be what Apple was estimating for direct tariff fees, and does not include the costs of its moves to adjust its supply and distribution lines.
