From Apple to General Motors, U.S. companies may lose hundreds of billions of dollars under tariff impacts
American companies are facing a significant impact from the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, with expected losses amounting to billions of dollars. General Motors anticipates a reduction of $5 billion in profits due to the tariffs, while Ford Motor and Harley-Davidson also face substantial losses. Technology companies such as Apple and Nvidia are similarly affected, with anticipated increases in costs and expenditures. During the earnings season, companies frequently express uncertainty about the future, and many are taking self-rescue measures such as stockpiling in advance and shifting production capacity
According to the Zhitong Finance APP, from tech giants to manufacturing leaders, American companies are collectively bearing the shockwaves brought by the Trump administration's comprehensive tariff increases. Although most affected goods have yet to arrive at U.S. ports, companies that have disclosed financial reports are warning that tariff policies are eroding corporate profits with greater-than-expected intensity, and some industries are even facing life-and-death tests of supply chain restructuring.
Among the U.S. companies that have announced financial expectations, General Motors (GM.US) has become a major victim of tariffs: this Detroit automaker expects its annual profits to decrease by $5 billion due to tariffs, as its imported vehicles and parts from South Korea, Canada, and Mexico are generally facing a 25% tariff barrier. Ford Motor Company (F.US), also in the automotive industry, follows closely behind, warning that tariffs will lead to a $1.5 billion reduction in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA); Harley-Davidson (HOG.US) may face a loss of $175 million.
Figure 1
The tech sector has also not been spared. Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) expects to incur an additional $900 million in costs this quarter due to tariffs, NVIDIA (NVDA.US) has set aside $5.5 billion to cope with rising import costs, and Meta Platforms (META.US) has raised its annual capital expenditure by $7 billion, stating that "global device procurement costs exceeded expectations." Consumer giant Procter & Gamble (PG.US) anticipates that tariffs will increase its annual costs by $1 billion to $1.5 billion and has planned to pass on the pressure through price increases.
Figure 2
Data shows that during this earnings season, the term "uncertainty" appeared over 6,000 times in corporate conference calls, reaching a new high since the pandemic began in 2020. Dozens of companies, including Walmart (WMT.US) and Home Depot (HD.US), have yet to announce their latest performance, but many have already taken self-rescue measures such as stockpiling and shifting production capacity: Microsoft (MSFT.US) saw an unexpected surge in Windows software sales due to customer rush buying; Amazon (AMZN.US) accelerated procurement to avoid tariffs, resulting in a $1 billion reduction in first-quarter profits; Stanley (SWK.US) has raised product prices in the U.S. market by 15%, yet still expects tariffs to consume $1.7 billion of its annual profits.
Other manufacturers are also feeling the profit pressure from tariffs and are taking various response strategies, but these measures are difficult to fully resolve the long-term dilemma. For example, companies like 3M (MMM.US) and Danaher (DHR.US) are relocating production bases out of China to cope with tariff challenges. Raytheon Technologies (RTX.US) has taken mitigation measures but still expects tariffs to reduce its operating profits by $850 million, making it difficult to fully offset the impact of tariffs In addition, consumer giants such as Procter & Gamble and Stanley are raising prices to absorb the impact of tariffs. Procter & Gamble plans to respond to increased tariff costs by raising product prices, while Stanley significantly increased prices in April and warned that if tariffs persist, further price actions may be necessary.
GE Vernova (GEV.US) plans to pass some of the tariff costs onto customers by utilizing inflation protection clauses and legal change clauses in contracts. Boeing (BA.US) is concerned that the EU may follow suit with additional tariffs, which could increase the production cost of its 787 aircraft by another $500 million, complicating the issue further.
However, self-rescue measures have limited effectiveness. DuPont (DD.US) expects tariff costs to reach $500 million, and even with measures such as production relocation and sourcing alternatives, it will still incur a net loss of $60 million; Hershey (HSY.US) predicts that as cocoa inventories are consumed, tariff costs will surge to $100 million in the second half of the year.
Market analysis indicates that current corporate warnings may only be the tip of the iceberg. Many companies, including Oracle (ORCL.US) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US), have yet to disclose details of the tariff impacts, and the lagging effects in industries such as online advertising and medical devices may become apparent in the second half of the year
