WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has warned he will impose a 100% tariff on imports from European countries that impose digital services taxes on large American technology companies.
“We are looking at new digital taxes on several European countries. Any country that puts them in place will immediately have trade penalties applied to them,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Trump wrote, "Please allow this statement to stand, for any country that levies such a tax will instantly be confronted with a 100% tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America.
The president said the tariffs would trump existing bilateral trade agreements, but he did not say which countries he was referring to.
The comments have sparked questions over the potential impact on Britain, which introduced its Digital Services Tax in 2020. The UK levies a 2% tax on the revenues of large search engines, social media companies and online marketplaces that meet certain revenue thresholds.
The tax hits several big American tech companies, including Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon. UK Treasury figures show the tax raised more than £800 million in the 2024-25 financial year.
Trump has criticised the British tax before. He said earlier this year the UK could face substantial tariffs for what he called unfair treatment of American companies.
Britain’s Department for Business and Trade and Treasury have been asked for comment.
The warning comes amidst broader tensions between Washington and European governments over the taxation of multinational technology companies. France, Italy and Spain already tax big tech companies on their digital services, and several other European countries have considered similar steps.
Supporters of digital services taxes argue that big multinationals should be taxed where they generate significant revenues. But critics, including successive US administrations, say the taxes are disproportionately levied on American firms.
The latest threat also comes just weeks after the United States and the European Union struck a new trade deal, though it remains unclear what implications Trump’s comments will have for that agreement.
The European Union could respond if its interests were at stake, Cyprus’s minister of energy, commerce and industry, Michael Damianos, said recently.
Since returning to office, Trump has made tariffs a central element of his trade policy and has proposed a range of import duties on trading partners.
But some of his prior tariff efforts have run into legal and political headwinds, including court scrutiny over the scope of presidential authority to impose sweeping import duties.
