The US president has claimed that the charges give China’s tech companies a free pass
US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened “substantial” new tariffs and curbs on semiconductor exports against countries that maintain digital taxes and regulations he says “discriminate” against American tech firms.
Digital services taxes (DSTs), now in place in dozens of countries, are designed to capture revenue from the biggest global tech firms. Trump has long argued the levies unfairly target American companies – notably Meta, Alphabet and Amazon – and has pressed US trade partners to abandon them.
In post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump blasted “Digital Taxes, Legislation, Rules, or Regulations,” warning he could impose additional tariffs and tighten export controls on US technologies, stressing that America and its firms would no longer serve as the “piggy bank” or “doormat” of the world.
”As the President of the United States, I will stand up to Countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies. Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation, and Digital Markets Regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology,” Trump wrote.
He complained that such measures “give a complete pass to China’s largest Tech Companies” and declared “this must end, and end now.”
The salvo risks reigniting trade tensions with the UK and EU, despite both having recently struck agreements with Washington. US officials have repeatedly criticized Britain’s digital services tax, which remained in place after its deal with the Trump administration, and have also taken aim at the EU’s landmark Digital Services Act requiring tech firms to more aggressively police their platforms. Several EU states, including France, Italy and Spain, maintain digital services taxes of their own.
Digital services taxes have already emerged as a flashpoint in Trump’s trade agenda. In June, he threatened to halt all talks with Canada. Ottawa backed down just before the measure was due to take effect, prompting the White House to boast that Canada had “caved” to US pressure.
Countries that impose digital services taxes argue the charges are justified because tech giants such as Amazon reap huge profits from their citizens while paying little or no tax to local budgets.
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