tariffs 2: here we go again

what the newest tariffs mean for tech

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Amber Rhodes & Dillon Young
April 04, 2025 • Est. Reading Time: 7 minutes

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TL;DR

  • The tariffs are coming (again 🫥)! Here’s what you should know about the potential impact on the tech industry.

  • Who let these guys go out in public?

  • Are you a fan of April Fool’s Day pranks or are you a killjoy?

Let’s talk shop 🔧

New tariffs, who dis?

Last month we wrote about the tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China and what they could mean for tech. At the time, we mentioned these potential future tariffs in April.

And, well, here we are! And, no, it’s not an April Fool’s joke. Here’s what Tariffs 2.0 might mean for tech.

What’s happening, exactly?

On April 2, President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on the US' global trading partners. The measures include a minimum 10% tariff on all countries, plus additional (and steeper) import duties on big US trading allies like Europe, China, India, etc.

Soon after the announcement on April 2nd, stocks went down and to the right 📉 (not the direction you usually want to see)!

How could this affect the tech industry?

There is a silver lining for our industry, though. The current tariffs exempt semiconductor imports for now, which means companies (especially AI companies) that use chips made in Taiwan won't have to pay up for tariffs. This relief is because an estimated 44% of the US's imported logic chips come from Taiwan.

On the flip side, e-commerce and tech gadget/device brands are likely to feel the pain of the administration's new tariffs as supply chains are disrupted. For example, Apple lost more than $250 billion in market value on Thursday alone. 😬

And, finally: In an ironic turn of events, the tariffs could also hinder the administration's plans to beef up AI infrastructure to support their big bet on the US leading AI innovation.

What should we expect next?

Great question! Some of these points may sound familiar — and no, it is unfortunately not deja vu. It's because we've been here before with other (very recent) tariff conversations.

And honestly, no one can predict what's going to happen! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As of writing this newsletter, the Trump administration said they are actually open to tariff negotiations even though previous reports stated they were not.

We’ll keep an eye out and bring you updates.

💾 What else is happening in tech?

  • Big money!! Open AI just closed $40 billion in private funding. You could buy, like, so many Charizard-shaped Hot Cheetos with that much money.

  • Elon Musk's xAI has acquired Elon Musk's X (aka Twitter). Yes, that's a confusing sentence.

  • CoreWeave's IPO was more fizzle than sizzle, but the stock is picking up now. Could this be a good sign for other tech companies waiting in the wings to go public?

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Let’s dish 🤭

Fool me once...

April Fool's Day typically brings out two very opinionated groups of people: the pranksters and the haters. Which one are you?

In case you missed these April Fool's stunts from brands big and small, here's a quick round-up of some of the most notable gags — if you're into that kind of thing.

Yahoo! wants to help you touch grass...without leaving your desk :)

Deep Indian Kitchen introduced butter chicken ice cream. (Is it bad that we would actually try this?)

Omaha Steaks announced an original Meat-Cute book series.

Reply to this email and tell us your favorite April Fool's Day gag for a chance to be featured next week!

🫖 What's the tea?

  • In news we all already knew but stubbornly ignored: a study has linked screen time in bed to worse sleep.

  • Pour one out for Ice Man 🫗 Hollywood star Val Kilmer passed earlier this week at age 65.

  • Gamers rejoice! Nintendo is releasing its Switch 2 this June. Animal Crossing, anyone?

See you next week! 👋

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