- Nvidia’s stock has taken a hit as Donald Trump’s new tariffs rattled investors. Nvidia’s stock tumbled nearly 9% on Monday, while concerns over unauthorized exports to China also rattled investors.
Nvidia’s stock price plunged nearly 9% following Donald Trump’s tough tariff announcements.
The U.S. president announced that tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will go into effect on Tuesday, dashing hopes of a last-minute reprieve. The aggressive tariff plans prompted a broader market pullback, as concerns over trade restrictions sent stocks reeling and the Dow plunging more than 600 points.
Asian tech stocks also slid in response to Trump stating he would impose an additional 10% tariff on imports from China. Shares of Advantest, a Japanese semiconductor company, South Korea’s SK Hynix, and Chinese AI companies fell following the tariff announcement.
Nvidia is now valued at approximately $2.79 trillion—down from its previous $3 trillion valuation—and is trading at its lowest levels since September, before the U.S. presidential election. The tech giant’s stock has fallen just over 13% since the company reported earnings on Wednesday.
While Nvidia beat estimates in its latest earnings report, with revenue rising 78% from a year ago to $39.3 billion—just edging past Wall Street’s projection of $38.3 billion—the growth didn’t appear to be enough for investors, who have grown accustomed to blowout numbers from the AI chipmaker.
Nvidia primarily produces its AI chips in Taiwan, which is not currently subject to U.S. tariffs. However, many of its products are assembled in other locations, including Mexico, where higher import costs could drive up expenses.
“The tariffs on Mexico and Canada announced by President Trump may impact Nvidia as they have some manufacturing in Mexico. This raises concerns about additional tariffs that have been threatened against chips made in Taiwan, where Nvidia has the majority of their chips produced currently,” Alvin Nguyen, a senior analyst at Forrester, told Fortune.
“Although Nvidia has committed to having chips produced in the U.S. by TSMC after its announcement of a $100 billion investment in U.S. facilities, this type of build-out takes years,” he added.
Nvidia’s challenges beyond tariffs
Concerns around unauthorized exports of Nvidia chips to China may have also affected investor confidence in the company.
On Monday, Singaporean authorities arrested three people for allegedly misrepresenting the final destination of U.S.-made servers, likely containing Nvidia’s AI chips. The arrests highlight an ongoing shadow trade network, despite export restrictions, with analysts warning that a full ban on Nvidia chip exports to China could cost the company up to $5 billion in revenue.
Nvidia’s most powerful chips are already restricted from export to China under U.S. trade controls first introduced by President Joe Biden to slow China’s AI advancements.
As geopolitical tensions escalate, the Trump administration is reportedly considering ramping up export controls to limit Beijing’s progress in AI chip development. Last week, Bloomberg reported that the new administration was drafting tougher semiconductor restrictions and pressuring key allies to tighten their own limits on China’s AI industry.
Nvidia has been directly impacted by China’s recent AI progress. The launch of DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning model caused the chipmaker’s shares to plummet, wiping out around $600 billion of its market value.
The claim that DeepSeek built its newest model using lower-cost, less powerful chips sparked fears that major tech firms could scale back their demand for Nvidia’s high-end AI processors.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang responded to the market’s reaction, saying it was based on a misunderstanding. He argued that investors misinterpreted DeepSeek’s innovation as proof that AI companies no longer needed intensive computing power—when, in fact, the opposite is true.
Representatives for Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune, made outside normal working hours.
