Trump threatens 100% tariff on European countries that impose digital tax | Donald Trump

Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100 percent import duty on any European country that imposes taxes on the digital services of US companies.

Writing on Truth Social on Friday, the US president said that “numerous European countries” are discussing imposing a digital services tax on American companies and that “some of these countries are actually close to doing so.”

“Please allow this statement to represent that any country imposing such a duty will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on all Goods shipped into the United States,” Trump continued.

He added that the tariff will be implemented immediately and will replace other previously existing trade agreements with the country.

This threat could trigger a new saga in the global trade war, where Trump imposes harsh tariffs on countries and economic blocs at the same time. If Trump follows through on his warning, this could spark a larger trade war between the US and the EU if the 27-nation economic bloc is forced to retaliate for the tariff increase.

France, Spain and Italy have imposed a 3% digital services tax on large companies operating in their countries, while some other EU countries have either implemented or proposed similar policies.

The UK has a 2% digital services tax, which applies to social media platforms, major search engines and online marketplaces with global revenue from digital services exceeding £500 million, total UK revenue over £25 million and “extracting value” from UK users.

The digital services tax applies to US tech companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon and has raised more than £800 million in 2024-2025, according to the UK Treasury.

An EU spokesman said the economic bloc reserved the right to defend itself against such tariffs.

“Unilateral measures targeting such legitimate policies are unjustified. If pursued, the EU will respond quickly and decisively to defend its rights and regulatory autonomy,” European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said.

Gill said digital services taxes do not specifically target companies in any country and that they apply to “all large companies, regardless of origin.”

Trump has repeatedly railed against countries that try to impose taxes or regulate U.S. tech companies. He has previously threatened to impose tariffs on countries that try to do so.

In April, Trump said the UK could face a “massive tariff” for what he described as targeting US companies with tariffs.

“They thought they were going to make easy money, so they took advantage of our country,” Trump said in April.

Trump’s threats come as the July 4 deadline for the EU and the US to begin implementing a tariff agreement approaches. In May, the EU signed a trade agreement with the US that caps most tariffs on EU imports to 15%; This agreement came after months of bickering and tensions between the two sides.

Digital services taxes were not part of this agreement and remain an obstacle to trade talks.