- President Donald Trump proposes a 50% tariff on the European Union, citing little progress in trade discussions.
- Trump also threatened Apple with a 25% tariff if the company refuses to manufacture its phones in the U.S.
- Bitcoin falls below $110,000 as the crypto market retreats following new tariff threats from Trump.
Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market halted their positive streak on Friday, with the leading cryptocurrency falling below $110,000 following new tariff threats from United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump towards the European Union (EU) and Apple.
Bitcoin Declines as Trump Proposes New Tariffs on EU and Apple
President Donald Trump initiated a new round of tariff threats against the EU and tech company Apple on Friday. The president proposed imposing a 50% tariff on the EU while threatening Apple with a 25% levy on phones manufactured outside the U.S.
“I long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I would be expecting them to be building their iPhones in the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
Likewise, President Trump criticized the EU—one of the United States’ main trade partners—for being “very difficult to deal with.”
He said his trade discussions with the EU did not yield much fruit and proposed that the U.S. implement a 50% tariff on the Union.
While Trump added that his new proposed levy on EU goods should begin as early as June 1, he did not directly indicate when the one on Apple might begin.
This new development comes as the crypto market had shown a recovery in recent weeks following losses. Bitcoin soared nearly 50% from a low below $75,000 to an all-time high of $111,970 on Thursday, according to data from Binance.
However, Bitcoin pared those gains on Friday following Trump’s new tariff threats, falling below $110,000 and dropping nearly 2% on the day.
Altcoins also suffered losses, with Ethereum, XRP, and Dogecoin seeing drops of nearly 3%, sending the total crypto market capitalization down by 3.5%.
While signs of bearish sentiment are beginning to emerge in the market, experts are skeptical about the seriousness of the tariffs, suggesting that Trump is using the threats to boost negotiations.
Søndergaard stated that the slight pullback in the crypto market may only be temporary, reflecting the market’s sensitivity to economic factors.
“For now, this feels like a temporary disruption rather than a structural shift, but it underscores how sensitive risk assets are to policy signals, especially in the current macroeconomic environment,” Søndergaard added.
The stock market also saw losses following Trump’s statement, opening the day down 1% before paring losses slightly to 0.37% at the time of publication.
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