On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order imposing an annual $100,000 charge on new applications for H-1B visas. The order took effect from 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, leaving little time for businesses to prepare. 

While the measure applies only to new applicants, its impact has been immediate. Microsoft, Amazon, JPMorgan, and other employers issued urgent travel advisories, warning employees abroad to return to the U.S. before the deadline.

The H-1B programme has long been a pipeline for skilled workers in technology, finance, and biotechnology. Amazon, which had more than 10,000 holders of H-1B visas as of June 2025, tops the list of corporate beneficiaries. Microsoft and Meta each employ over 5,000 H-1B workers, while Apple and Google rely on thousands more in key roles spanning artificial intelligence, cloud services, and cybersecurity.

Analysts say the new cost structure could change hiring. Paying $100,000 per worker each year is a burden even for the wealthiest firms. Some companies are already exploring alternatives, such as remote hiring, automation, and relocating teams abroad.

A senior industry analyst observed: “The U.S. has just made itself the most expensive destination for global talent. Countries like Canada and Germany will be the winners here.”

Shares of major tech firms were largely steady in Frankfurt on Monday. Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Tesla traded between 0.2% down and 1.1% up, showing investors are still weighing the fallout.

Immigration specialists are questioning whether the executive order will hold up in court. Traditionally, visa fees are set by Congress or through regulatory rulemaking, not presidential decree. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have already raised concerns, warning that the measure risks repressing innovation pipelines and pushing skilled workers toward competing markets.

The directive may last only a year, but with Trump hinting it could be extended “in the national interest,” global talent pools from India, Nigeria, and elsewhere may think twice before considering the U.S.

This increase came as leading brands, including Apple, Samsung, and Motorola, accelerated their imports to dodge tariff threats that could have disrupted pricing and demand.

Apple alone shipped $2 billion worth of iPhones from India in March, leveraging its production partners, Foxconn and Tata Electronics. 

This was a historic record for the company and stressed a bigger shift in global supply chain strategies. I find this development unsurprising. 

In recent years, the U.S.-China trade tension has triggered a wave of recalibrations. Tech giants are now leaning heavily into India and Vietnam, seeking more stability and new manufacturing hubs.

The U.S. had pointed to new tariffs on electronic imports in early April, but the Biden administration issued a temporary 90-day suspension. That pause gave companies like Apple some breathing room, but not enough to stall their contingency plans.

“The increase in smartphone shipments in March and early April will help insulate Apple from potential immediate pricing impacts in the U.S. through mid-to-late summer,” said senior research analyst Gerrit Schneemann. 

He added, “Should the tariff situation remain unresolved with China by the time the iPhone 17 ships, we expect India to become the primary provider for U.S.-bound iPhone 17 devices.”

Apple’s sales to distributors and retailers rose by 42% in March. Samsung posted a 4% increase in sell-in, while Motorola, owned by Lenovo, nearly tripled its exports from India. 

The result was that India’s share of U.S. smartphone imports jumped from 16% in the first quarter of 2024 to 26% this year.

This is a global reset in motion and by the June quarter, Apple expects most of the iPhones sold in the U.S. to be sourced from India. 

The strategy is about long-term independence from China’s unpredictable regulatory and political environment. 

Techeconomy gathered that the purpose of the meeting was to explore collaboration between these industry giants and the Commission. 

The tech giants acknowledged that a key pillar of the Commission’s strategic roadmap is collaboration, and expressed their interest in aligning with this vision.

They emphasised the value of leveraging their expertise and insights, alongside those of the Commission, to support its mandate.

It was also noted that this partnership would serve as a platform for knowledge sharing, capacity building, and exchanging perspectives between industry practitioners and the Commission.

In his response, Dr Olatunji expressed his delight at the prospect of collaborating with global tech giants. He highlighted the Commission’s existing partnerships with various organisations, both within Nigeria and internationally, which have contributed to its success.

The NDPC CEO stressed the importance of synergy between the public sector, private sector, civil society groups, and academia. He warmly welcomed the collaboration offer and emphasised that it should be aligned with the Commission’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2023–2027.  

This initiative, which fosters partnerships between industry working groups and the government, will be the first of its kind in Africa. 

The next step discussed was the formation of a working group and the development of a terms of reference to guide the collaboration.

The Code, jointly developed by NITDA, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), establishes standards for promoting online safety and curbing harmful digital content. 

According to NITDA’s 2023 compliance report, the platforms have implemented measures aligned with both the Code and their community guidelines, receiving commendable achievements.

Key highlights from the report reveal that these platforms collectively handled over 4.1 million registered complaints and removed more than 65.8 million pieces of harmful content. 

Added to this, approximately 379,433 items were reviewed and re-uploaded after user appeals, while over 12 million accounts were closed or deactivated for violating safety guidelines.

NITDA noted that these contribute to creating a safer and more responsible digital environment in Nigeria. The agency also commended the platforms for promoting trust among users through assertive safety measures.

Beyond content moderation, data from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) highlighted the financial contributions of foreign digital platforms operating in Nigeria. 

In the first half of 2024, these companies paid over ₦2.55 trillion (approximately $1.5 billion) in taxes, disclosing the impact of solid regulatory frameworks on compliance and revenue growth within the digital economy.

Nonetheless, NITDA urged continued innovation and collaboration among stakeholders to tackle emerging challenges. 

The agency reaffirmed its focus on advancing user safety, boosting digital literacy, and enhancing transparency across Nigeria’s digital sector.

This comes after Amazon recently invested $4 billion in Anthropic, a company known for developing large language models and the chatbot Claude, akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The investigation, part of the CMA’s probe of major tech companies’ investments in AI startups, seeks to determine whether this partnership could harm competition in the UK market. 

The regulator has set the initial period for its investigation to begin on August 9, 2024, with a decision deadline of October 4, 2024.

“The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) hereby gives notice pursuant to paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘initial period’ in section 34ZA(3) of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act) that it has sufficient information in relation to the partnership between Amazon.com, Inc. and Anthropic PBC (the Partnership) to enable it to begin an investigation for the purposes of deciding whether to make a reference for a phase 2 investigation.

The initial period defined in section 34ZA(3) of the Act in relation to the Partnership will therefore commence on the first working day after the date of this notice, ie on 9 August 2024. The end of the initial period and the deadline for the CMA to announce its decision whether to refer the Merger for a Phase 2 investigation is therefore 4 October 2024.”

The announcement comes shortly after the CMA invited comments on Google’s financial ties with Anthropic, following Google’s investments totalling $2.3 billion over the past year. 

Founded in 2021, Anthropic has quickly raised $10 billion, becoming a public benefit corporation to differentiate from competitors.

The CMA’s investigation points to the issue some refer to as a “quasi-merger” strategy by Big Tech firms. This approach involves investments or hiring talent from innovative startups, aiming to exert control without triggering full merger regulatory investigation. 

The CMA is also preparing to examine Microsoft’s investments in OpenAI and its partnership with French startup Mistral AI, although the latter was deemed too small for a full probe.

In response to the investigation, an Anthropic spokesperson said the company is independent, noting that Amazon does not hold any board seats or observer rights. Anthropic intends to cooperate fully with the CMA to clarify the nature of its collaboration with Amazon.

The CMA now has 40 working days to decide whether the Amazon-Anthropic partnership warrants further investigation. This decision could lead to more strict antitrust measures if the regulator deems the investment could impact market competition.