Donald Trump threatened Friday that any European country implementing a digital services tax would face immediate 100% tariffs on all goods entering the United States, according to a post on Truth Social.
The threat targets France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, which maintain digital services taxes ranging from 2% to 3% on large technology companies. The UK collected more than £800 million through its digital services tax in 2024-2025 alone.
"These tariffs would supersede existing trade agreements and would take effect instantly," Trump wrote, according to the post.
The European Commission responded with a statement from spokesman Olof Gill, saying that digital services taxes apply uniformly to "all large companies, regardless of their origin." The EU "reserved the right to defend itself against such tariffs" and would "respond swiftly and decisively," Gill said.
Digital services taxes are mainstream tax mechanisms that treat large technology companies, primarily American-headquartered firms like Apple, Google and Amazon, similarly to how traditional retailers are taxed in Europe.
The tariff threat comes as a May trade agreement between the EU and the US capped most tariffs on European imports at 15% following months of contentious negotiations. Digital services taxes were explicitly excluded from that agreement and remain an "outstanding issue," according to trade negotiators.
In April, Trump threatened the UK with "big tariffs" for what he characterized as unfair targeting of American companies. That statement revealed the operative assumption underlying the current threat: that other countries taxing U.S. corporations constitutes aggression against the United States.
A July 4 deadline for implementing the tariff deal between the EU and U.S. is expected to add pressure to negotiations over the unresolved digital tax issue.
