Trump threatens 100% tariff on any country that imposes digital services tax

Highlights:
- Trump threatens new tariff to deter digital services taxes
- Move follows Macron's refusal to back down from French levies on
US tech firms
- EU countries cut tariffs on US goods on Thursday to meet Trump's
July 4 deadline
US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday a 100%
tariff on all goods from any country that imposes a digital services tax on
American companies, inflaming transatlantic trade tensions a day after European
Union countries met Trump's 4 July deadline to cut tariffs on US goods.
"Numerous European Countries
have been discussing the imminent implementation of a Digital Services Tax on
American Companies," Trump said in a social media post. "Some of
these Countries are close to actually doing this.
"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 new tariff would
supersede any trade deals with the United States, "whether implemented,
signed or not."
That would include the deal the US
and EU agreed to last year, which caps US tariffs on European goods at 15% in
exchange for EU countries reducing tariffs on US industrial goods to zero.
But a lengthy EU legislative
process to meet the bloc's commitments under the deal prompted Trump to
threaten to reimpose a 25% tariff on imports from Europe, including cars. EU
lawmakers then scrambled to meet a deadline from Trump to implement the changes
by 4 July.
French President Emmanuel Macron said last week, before meeting with Trump at a
G7 summit, that France would not bow to pressure from him and scrap its digital
tax on US tech giants. The digital services it taxes include online
marketplaces and advertising.
Before setting off for the summit
in France, Trump had warned that the US would "have no choice" but to
apply 100% tariffs on French wine unless Paris eliminated its digital tax.
France has applied a 3% levy since
2019 on revenue earned in France from digital services provided by companies
with revenue of more than €25 million in the country and €750 million ($854.02
million) worldwide. French lawmakers last year proposed doubling the tax to 6%.
The US Trade Representative's
office has long threatened France, Britain, Austria, Spain and other European
countries with retaliatory tariffs if they impose digital services taxes,
arguing that these levies discriminate against US companies, which dominate the
sector globally.
















