🌏 Hollywood’s tariff gut punch

Good morning, Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft can ‘breathe a huge sigh of relief’ after Trump’s China tariff exemptions. The Trump administration carved out exemptions from huge tariffs for smartphones, laptop computers, and chips.

Jamie Dimon is still sounding the alarm. The JPMorgan Chase CEO says the economy isn’t done with trade war chaos yet.

Larry Fink says Trump’s tariffs “went further than I could have imagined.” The BlackRock CEO also says he thinks we may already be in a recession.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence is cratering. Data shows consumer sentiment has declined 11% since March — and as much as 30% since December 2024.

Michael Saylor’s bluster about never selling your Bitcoin lost a little oomph. His company, Strategy, which was on a Bitcoin buying spree, might need to sell some crypto soon.

Even Hollywood isn’t safe from the tariffs

Lights, cameras, tariffs!

Chinese officials warned that the “abuse [of] tariffs on China” would erode the domestic audience’s favorability toward American films.

Trump’s response when asked about China’s retaliatory restrictions? “I think I’ve heard of worse things.” Quartz’s Catherine Baab gives a full review of the Hollywood-China epic drama.

Tesla hits a trade war roadblock

As Beijing retaliated — again — against Trump’s tariff hikes, Tesla quietly pulled options to buy new Model S and X electric vehicles from its website in China.

Tesla builds both of those models in the U.S., which makes them subject to China’s newly announced 125% tariffs on U.S. imports.

The escalating tariffs form yet another roadblock for Tesla. Its year-over-year sales in China were already down 11.5% in March. Meanwhile, in Europe, sales cratered 44% in January.

And the company’s performance stateside isn’t much better. Tesla’s sales in the U.S. declined “nearly 9%” year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025, while overall EV sales in the U.S. grew 11%. Quartz’s Harri Weber has more.

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