US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on European countries that tax digital services on US companies.
In apost on social networksthe president said “many European countries” are discussing or “are about to do this.”
“Please let this statement be used to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tariff will be subject to a 100% Tariff on all Goods sent to the United States,” Trump said. “This TARIFF will supersede all Trade Agreements entered into by the States, whether executed, signed or not. Additionally, a 100 percent Tariff will be imposed immediately, if continued.”
Taxes on online services are often imposed to counter the external influence of Big Tech and are often targeted at large US companies such as Apple, Amazon and Meta.
Trump’s promise to raise tariffs threatens to derail trade talks with the European Union. Trump’s threat comes a day after European Union member states approved an agreement that will reduce tariffs on US manufactured goods and some agricultural products. In return, the United States will reduce most tariffs on the European Union by 15 percent.
In addition to the proposed taxes, the European Union has put in place various measures designed to counter the influence of large technology companies, such as the Digital Marketing Act, which allows regulators to set stricter operating rules and impose fines on large platforms.
Several countries – including many outside the European Union – have also imposed taxes on digital services and the Trump administration has repeatedly used threats of tariffs to pressure them to change their behavior.
Last year, Canadahe withdrew his digital service taxto the threats made by the president. And most recently, it isindicated that it could revise its decisionrequiring online streaming giants to pay 15 percent of their Canadian revenue toward supporting regional content.
Trump has done itmeasures previously threatenedagainst countries implementing digital tariffs, saying they unfairly target US tech companies. Earlier this week, the UK government defended its use of such a tax.
