Dan Ives, the senior equities analyst at investment banking firm Wedbush Securities, says President Trump’s tariffs will likely lead to the collapse of the US tech sector.

In a new CNBC interview, Ives says Trump’s sweeping and reciprocal tariffs are bad news for tech companies, particularly for firms relying on China for parts and labor.

Last week, Trump issued an executive order imposing a 10% tariff on all imported goods entering the US, with the stated goal of safeguarding domestic manufacturing. Trump’s executive order also details country-specific tariffs, leading to a cumulative 54% tariff on Chinese imports.

According to Ives, US tech firms like Apple are now under pressure to rethink their business model amid the potential increase in production costs.

“It’s essentially an economic armageddon if these tariffs stay in place. The reality of talking in front of the microphone in a 202 area code is a lot different than the reality of moving the supply chain. 

And I think it speaks to our point that when you look at China-exposed names, from Nvidia to Apple to any of the [semiconductor] names, this is as nervous as I’ve seen investors going back to Covid March 2020.”

Ives says he sees tech firms responding by hiking prices, leading to “demand destruction.”

“If they hold in their current form, then essentially you have 15% to 20% demand destruction across the board in terms of costs that are actually going to have to come through.”

The wealth management executive says that at the end of the day, American consumers will bear the brunt of Trump’s tariffs.

“Whoever is going to pay it? It’s the consumer, and that’s the reality. You can talk about tariffs all you want, consumers are going to pay it on the iPhones, they’re going to pay it on electronics, they’re going to pay it across the board.”

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