Trump threatens 100% tariffs over digital services taxes on US firms

President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on goods imported from countries that impose digital services taxes, escalating pressure on European nations that just ratified a trade pact with the US.

“Numerous European Countries have been discussing the imminent implementation of a Digital Services Tax on American Companies,” Trump said in a social media post Friday. “Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America.”

Trump said the threatened tariff would be imposed “immediately” and would supersede any existing trade deals made with affected countries. The president’s comments come a day after the European Union gave its final sign-off to a trade agreement with Washington that sets a 15% tariff ceiling on most of the bloc’s exports to the US.

The threat underscores the intensity of the Trump administration’s campaign against digital services taxes, which he has long argued could affect large US technology companies such as Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. The US has previously threatened retaliation against trading partners that impose such taxes, including in the EU, and this year has called for restarting OECD discussions on how to tax the digital economy.

The EU and its member states have the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in its territory and any taxes are non-discriminatory by design and apply equally to all large companies regardless of origin, a European Commission spokesperson said in response to Trump’s post. The EU prefers a global solution on digital taxes in line with Group of Seven finance ministers’ discussions, the spokesperson added.

Trump in his second term has shown a willingness to renegotiate existing agreements — or undermine new pacts — over fresh grievances. Earlier this month, the president threatened France with a 100% levy on all champagnes and wines if the country did not drop a digital tax.