Trump threatens 100% tariff on European digital services taxes
US President Donald Trump has vowed to impose a 100 percent import duty on any European country that imposes a digital services tax on American tech giants.
Writing on the Truth Social platform, Trump said “numerous European countries” are discussing imposing such a tax and some are close to doing so.
He warned that criminal penalties would be imposed immediately and that any existing bilateral trade agreements would be completely “superseded”.
While the post targeted countries planning new taxes to be “implemented soon”, the exact consequences for the UK were not immediately clear, given that London has been imposing such a tax since 2020.
“Please allow this declaration to represent that any Country imposing such a Duty shall be immediately charged with a 100% TARIFF on all Goods destined for the United States,” he wrote.
Britain’s 2% Digital Services Tax (DST) applies to major search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces with global revenues from their digital businesses exceeding £500 million and total UK revenues exceeding £25 million.
It affects some of the biggest US companies, including Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon, and has raised more than £800 million in 2024-25, up from £678 million in 2023-24, according to the Treasury.
In April, Trump said Britain faced a “massive tariff” for allegedly targeting large US companies with tariffs.
“They think they can make easy money, so they all took advantage of our country,” Trump said at the time.
The Ministry of Commerce and Trade and the Treasury were contacted for comment.
Trump’s threat of retaliation against European countries planning to introduce or revise their own tariffs comes just days after the US and EU final, externalS.signed a new trade agreement, external.
“The EU can respond quickly and proportionately when the agreement is not respected or its interests are at risk,” Michael Damianos, Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry of the Republic of Cyprus, said at the time.
France, Italy and Spain also impose a 3% digital services tax on large companies operating in their countries, and some other EU countries also impose this tax. implemented or recommended, external It’s a similar tax, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on tax policy.
Amazon earlier this year Increased fees charged to sellers, external we are talking about this type of taxes.
Trump has tried to impose large tariffs on many countries since becoming president again in 2025.
In February, the US Supreme Court rejected Trump’s earlier attempt to impose a 10% global tariff.
However, the United States recently announced new tariffs of 10-12.5% on dozens of countries that account for nearly all of its imports, amid allegations that these countries are not doing enough to combat forced labor.
