WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump issued a forceful warning today targeting countries that impose digital taxes or regulations he perceives as unfairly singling out U.S. tech firms. In a post on social media platform Truth Social, Trump denounced “Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation, and Digital Markets Regulations” as mechanisms designed “to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology,” while granting leniency to Chinese tech companies.
Trump accused the digital services taxes and Europe’s sweeping regulations—such as the EU’s Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act—of penalizing U.S. giants like Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon. He vowed that unless these policies were dropped, the U.S. would impose “substantial additional tariffs” on their exports and enforce export restrictions on American technology, including semiconductors.
The escalation threatens to reignite tensions with key trade partners, including the United Kingdom and European Union. While the UK retained its 2% digital services tax despite recent negotiations, several EU member states—including France, Italy, and Spain—also apply similar levies. Trump’s announcement comes shortly after a joint U.S.–EU commitment to address trade barriers, though Brussels stressed it would not alter its regulations.
This latest threat builds on earlier actions: in February, Trump ordered a probe into digital tax policies that might lead to retaliatory tariffs, and in June, Canada rescinded its digital services tax following U.S. pressure. The move underscores his administration’s aggressive stance on defending American tech interests amid an increasingly fragmented global digital taxation landscape.
Ultimately, Trump declared, “America, and American technology companies, are neither the ‘piggy bank’ nor the ‘doormat’ of the world any longer. Show respect… or consider the consequences.”
