Trump threatens 100% tariff on European countries over digital services taxes

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100% import tariff on any European country that brings in a digital services tax on American technology companies. In a post on Truth Social, he said the penalties would apply immediately and would "supersede" existing bilateral trade agreements. The warning was aimed at countries that have discussed or are close to introducing such levies.

Sponsored

Trump said "numerous European countries" had been considering the taxes, which are designed to target large online platforms and digital businesses. He wrote that any country imposing such a tax would be met with a 100% tariff on "any and all goods" sent to the United States. The post did not name specific governments, but it raised immediate questions about how the threat would apply to countries that already have digital services taxes in place.

The United Kingdom already levies a 2% digital services tax on major search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces. Introduced in April 2020, it applies to technology multinationals including Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon, and is aimed at firms with global digital revenues above £500 million and UK revenues above £25 million. According to the Treasury, the tax raised more than £800 million in 2024-25, up from £678 million in 2023-24.

The warning matters because digital services taxes have become a recurring source of tension between the United States and European governments. Supporters of the levies argue that large technology firms should pay more tax in the countries where they generate revenue, while Washington has repeatedly objected to measures it sees as discriminatory against US companies. A tariff of the scale threatened by Trump would risk widening trade disputes beyond the digital sector and into broader goods trade.

Sponsored

The latest threat comes amid a wider pattern of tariff announcements from Trump since the US Supreme Court struck down many of his previous duties in February. Earlier this month, the US announced new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on dozens of countries accounting for almost all its imports, citing concerns that they were not doing enough to tackle forced labour. The new warning also follows months of debate in Europe over how to tax digital activity without provoking retaliation from Washington.

It remains unclear which countries, if any, would be targeted first or how the White House would seek to enforce the threat against states with existing trade arrangements. The UK government's response was not immediately available, and the Department for Business and Trade and the Treasury have been contacted for comment. What happens next will depend on whether European governments proceed with new digital taxes and whether the US turns the warning into formal trade action.

#DonaldTrump #digitalservicestax #tariffthreat #Europeancountries #tradepolicy