Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on May 12, 2025.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Stocks declined Friday after President Donald Trump raised trade fears again, warning Apple and recommending stiffer duties on the European Union.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 256.02 points, or 0.61%, to end at 41,603.07. The S&P 500 shed 0.67% and closed at 5,802.82, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% and settled at 18,737.21.
Apple shares fell 3% after Trump posted on Truth Social that iPhones sold in the U.S. must be made in the U.S. and if they are not “a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple.” The move against Apple by Trump is the first against a specific company in his tariff rollout this year.
AAPL 5-day chart
The president also said trade discussions with the EU “are going nowhere” and recommended “a straight 50% tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”
Stocks came off their lows of the day after CNBC’s Eamon Javers reported the White House did not interpret Trump’s remarks as a formal statement of policy.
Trump’s actions come at a time when tariff tensions were easing. Trump in April implemented duties on most nations in the world, which rattled the stock market and nearly put the S&P 500 in a bear market. The president then paused the stiffest tariffs for 90 days and hatched some preliminary agreements with the U.K. and China, causing stocks to recover. The S&P 500 got back to even on the year last week, but was back in negative territory at the end of Friday’s trading.
Investors were buying stocks on speculation that more agreements would be rolling out with various nations during this three-month pause. Friday’s actions by Trump could mean that hope was misplaced.
“We’ve had this de-escalation tailwind at the market’s back for like six weeks now — and the market has had one of its best six-week stretches in the last 75 years — and a re-escalation of trade war rhetoric threatens that. I don’t think we’ll retest the lows or anything like that, unless it really ramps up, but this is certainly a step in the wrong direction from the market’s perspective,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, in an interview with CNBC.
Elsewhere, shares of United States Steel surged 21% after Trump said on Truth Social that the company would form a “partnership” with Nippon Steel. Earlier this year, the Japanese company’s bid to buy its U.S. rival had been blocked.
Friday’s declines added to the market’s weekly losses. The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all lost more than 2% on the week.
Looking ahead, Rick Wedell, the president and chief investment officer at RFG Advisory warned that this “roller coaster ride” of de-escalating and re-escalating tariff tensions is likely to be a permanent fixture of Trump’s second term.
“It is very important for investors to understand that this lingering trade issue is likely to be here for, I think, the duration of this administration. I don’t think they are going to look the other way on trade at any point. I think they think of this as a defining characteristic of the administration’s legacy is fixing the international trade deals,” he said. “I would just encourage investors to never get lulled into a false sense either way.”
