Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) witnessed a significant plummet in its stock price on Friday, falling 5.29% in intraday trading. This decline followed a 7.62% drop on Thursday, as the company's shares were impacted by concerns over potential tax implications raised by the new U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Lutnick announced plans by the Trump administration to impose taxes on cruise ship companies operating under foreign flags and calling at U.S. ports. He stated, "Have you ever seen a cruise ship with an American flag? They have flags of Liberia or Panama. None of them pay taxes. Every supertanker. This is going to end under Donald Trump."

While analysts described the market's reaction as a "massive overreaction," the comments from the Secretary of Commerce sparked concerns among investors, leading to a sell-off in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises, as well as its peers like Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH). The potential tax implications could impact the profitability and operations of these cruise operators.