News Bargaining Incentive branded ‘tax’ by Google, Meta lobby group National Foreign Trade Council amid Trump tariff increase
A powerful trade group representing Google and Meta has branded Australia’s plans to force tech giants to support local media a “tax” that could breach Australia’s free trade agreement with the US, as the Trump administration toughens its stance on global trade.
The National Foreign Trade Council’s application was submitted to the Treasury in December, but comes as the Albanian government continues to push for an exemption from US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs, which are set to rise from 10 to 15 percent for Australia.
He described the News Bargaining Grant as “legally dubious” and publicly expressed concern about whether it would run afoul of Australia’s free trade agreement with the United States.
Australia’s trade deal with the US has already been undermined by Trump’s unilateral tariffs, and the Albanian government has declared its policies designed to support Australia’s local media ecosystem to be in compliance with all international obligations, as tech giants withdraw billions of dollars from Australia.
The tech giants’ hitherto unreported concerns are increasing pressure on the Albanian government’s efforts to strike a deal with the Trump administration on tariffs as Commerce Secretary Don Farrell heads to the United States, where he is expected to meet with senior officials.
The Trump administration has previously said the US would “investigate” countries that impose “discriminatory or extraterritorial taxes” against their companies and citizens. In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged an impending stalemate With the US over the EU’s own regulation of digital platforms.
At issue in Australia is a policy aimed at forcing tech giants Google, Meta, TikTok and possibly others to support local media through what the Australian government describes as a pricing and offset scheme.
Within the scope of the incentive, social media and search companies generating over $250 million in annual revenue will face a fee that can be compensated by making commercial agreements with media companies. Companies that meet the government’s criteria will be seized, regardless of whether they carry news or not.
“The proposal…appears to be inconsistent with Australia’s international trade commitments, including obligations under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement,” the National Foreign Trade Council’s submission says.
Deputy Finance and Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino said the government remained committed to advancing the policy following consultations late last year.
“We are a consultative government and we continue to work with stakeholders,” Mulino said in a statement. “Australia’s policies on digital platforms are consistent with our commercial obligations.”
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, earned $1.46 billion in revenue in Australia in 2024 and paid $44 million in income tax. The tech giant is broadly in line with the lobby group’s stance, according to a person familiar with its work on the policy.
Meta declined to comment. Google and Microsoft did not respond to questions about whether the companies were consulted about the application or whether they shared the concerns raised in the document.
Google has publicly stated that it remains committed to supporting journalism. Last year alone, Google renewed more than 50 contracts related to its “news storefront” product.
Google reported $1.98 billion in local revenue and $83 million in income taxes in calendar year 2024. The search, advertising and artificial intelligence giant has signed a wide range of commercial deals with Australian media companies, following the first striking deals in 2021.
But last year, new agreements on price reduction terms led media executives to push the Albanian government to accelerate regulatory action plans.
Among the largest of Google’s early deals was with News Corp. Australian; Nine Entertainment is the owner of this imprint and Australian Financial Review; and Seven West Media. These agreements were made in 2021 under the threat of the News Media Bargaining Code, the incentive’s previous policy.
Google also has commercial agreements. The Guardian Australian outpost and ABC, among dozens of other publications.
Meta, meanwhile, has since pulled out of news deals for the 2021 window. This move, which the company announced in early 2024, triggered a wave of layoffs in the media industry. After the Bargaining Incentive was announced later that year, Meta said he remained concerned about “charging fees from one sector to subsidize another”.
“The proposal does not take into account the realities of how our platforms work, specifically that most people do not come to our platforms for news content and that news publishers voluntarily choose to publish content on our platforms for free because they get value from it,” a Meta spokesperson said.
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John Buckley is the CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
