Trump warns of 100% tariffs over digital taxes as EU defends right to regulate
Trump threatened tariffs on countries imposing digital service taxes on U.S. companies, while the European Commission said EU measures are non-discriminatory and that it would answer unjustified unilateral steps.
President Trump said countries that impose digital service taxes on U.S. companies would immediately face a 100% tariff on all goods they send to the United States, escalating a transatlantic dispute over how large technology firms should be taxed. In response, the European Commission said the EU and its member states have the sovereign right to regulate economic activity, described such taxes as non-discriminatory by design and applicable equally to large companies regardless of origin, and said the bloc would respond swiftly to unjustified unilateral measures while remaining open to a G7-based global solution.
- digital service taxes: Taxes applied to revenue earned from certain online or digital services.
- tariff: A tax a country places on imported goods.
- G7: Group of seven major advanced economies.