Key facts
- President Donald Trump threatened a 100% import tariff on countries imposing digital services taxes.
- Trump views these taxes as unfairly targeting U.S. technology companies.
- Several European countries, including France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, have implemented or proposed digital services taxes.
- The UK's digital services tax raised over £800 million in 2024-2025.
- The EU stated it would respond swiftly and decisively to defend its rights against such tariffs.
President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100% import tariff on any European country that implements a digital services tax on U.S. companies. Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that "numerous European countries" were discussing or close to implementing such a levy. He warned that the punitive penalties would be applied immediately and would completely "supersede" any existing bilateral trade agreements.
The UK's 2% Digital Services Tax, which applies to major search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces, has been in place since 2020 and impacts large U.S. companies like Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon. It raised more than £800 million in 2024-25. In April, Trump had already warned the UK of "a big tariff" for targeting U.S. companies.
France, Italy, and Spain also impose a digital services tax of 3% on large companies operating in their countries, with several other EU nations having similar measures in place or proposed. An EU spokesperson stated that the economic bloc reserved the right to defend itself against such tariffs, adding that digital services taxes do not target companies from any specific country.