US Tech Giants Grapple with Devastating Trump Tariffs: Lobbying Efforts Likely to Fail

US Big Tech Unprepared for Trump's Tariffs

Investment bank Morgan Stanley reports that CEOs of major US tech companies were caught off guard by the magnitude of President Trump’s tariffs. According to Morgan Stanley, Apple is expected to incur a $33 billion loss due to these tariffs, while Dell and HP are anticipated to lose almost their entire net income for 2025. The analysts believe that these executives did not anticipate the severity of the tariffs and will likely attempt to lobby the administration, though Morgan Stanley doubts these efforts will be successful.

Previous tariff exemptions secured by Apple during Trump's first term have not been replicated, partly because the new tariffs are implemented as a blanket measure without specific product lists. Additionally, Trump has maintained that there will be no exemptions or exceptions, insisting that high tariffs will force companies to move production to the US.

However, Morgan Stanley argues that this is unlikely to happen due to insufficient skilled labor in the US and the estimated cost of hundreds of billions of dollars to shift manufacturing. The process would also take at least nine months, with most industry sources estimating it would actually take several years. Furthermore, the long-term uncertainty of tariffs under future administrations adds to the challenges.

While companies have been diversifying production away from China to locations like Taiwan, Vietnam, and India, these regions are now subject to heavy tariffs as well. As a result, firms will likely need to raise prices to mitigate the financial impact of the tariffs.