How Trump’s China stance harms Nvidia and Apple

For CNBC’s Jim Cramer, right now, it’s hard to hold on to two favorite stocks, Nvidia and Apple, as he unpacked on Monday the Trump administration’s harsh commerce policies and attitude towards China.

“Until Trump became president, our policy was peaceful co-existence and commerce with China, even if they didn’t play by the rules on trade,” Cramer said. “But now our policy is nothing but scorched earth without military confrontation.”

Stocks plummeted on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sinking 2.48%, the S&P 500 dropping 2.36% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shedding 2.55%. The volatile state of global trade policies continued to plague Wall Street, especially as tensions with vital U.S. trading partner China remain high. There is now a 145% tariff on all goods imported from China, and the country has retaliated with its own 125% duty on goods from the U.S. Investors were also perturbed by President Donald Trump’s blatant attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Once known as the “Magnificent Seven,” former tech titans, including Apple, Nvidia, Tesla and Meta, guided the Nasdaq lower.

The government, Cramer asserted, is biased against Apple and Nvidia, the latter of which designs semiconductors that have been highly in demand across the world. He said he believes the Trump administration thinks Nvidia doesn’t do enough to stop China from getting its products. The White House, he continued, “cares more about cutting off China than it does about advancing our own interests.”

The iPhone maker might be even harder to own than Nvidia, Cramer admitted, as it is “caught in the crosshairs” of the trade war. Apple does substantial business in China, manufacturing much of its technology there and selling products to the country’s consumers. According to Cramer, the White House thinks Apple should make its products in the U.S. or nowhere. But he challenged that attitude, saying it’s not wise to hobble the company, which continually makes desirable products.

Cramer said investors don’t want to bet on Nvidia and Apple because they’re companies “where the government’s mandating weaker numbers.” However, for the CNBC Investing Club’s Charitable Trust, Cramer said he only trimmed positions in these stocks because he believes it’s possible the Trump administration could rollback some of its more punitive policies if things get even worse. But he conceded that he could be wrong, and the stocks could continue to decline. Uncertainty is pervasive in the Trump administration, Cramer emphasized, which makes it difficult to predict the fate of Nvidia and Apple.

“Nothing’s etched in stone with this president. It’s possible he’ll realize that a strong Apple with business in China is very much in our nation’s interest, that a rulebound Nvidia is worth supporting. It doesn’t have to be this way,” Cramer said. “Then again, maybe he never comes around and the stocks keep getting pummeled—it could go either way.”

The White House did not respond to request for comment.

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Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust holds shares of Nvidia, Apple and Meta.