Trump orders trade chief to revive tariff retaliation against digital taxes
A White House official, providing details of the order, said Trump was directing his administration to consider responsive actions like tariffs "to combat the digital service taxes (DSTs), fines, practices, and policies that foreign governments levy on American companies."
President Donald Trump on Friday ordered his trade chief to revive investigations aimed at imposing tariffs on imports from countries that levy digital service taxes on US technology companies.
A White House official, providing details of the order, said Trump was directing his administration to consider responsive actions like tariffs "to combat the digital service taxes (DSTs), fines, practices, and policies that foreign governments levy on American companies."
"President Trump will not allow foreign governments to appropriate America's tax base for their own benefit," the official said.
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The memo directs the US Trade Representative's office to renew digital service taxes investigations that were initiated during Trump's first term, and investigate any additional countries that use a digital tax "to discriminate against US companies," according to a White House fact sheet.
The digital service taxes aimed at dominant US tech giants including Alphabet's Google, Meta's Facebook, Apple and Amazon have been a longstanding trade irritant for multiple US administrations.
Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, India, Austria and Canada have levied the taxes on sales revenue by these and other digital services providers within their borders.
During Trump's first term, USTR launched Section 301 unfair trade practices against several of these countries, finding they discriminated against US companies, paving the way for retaliatory tariffs on certain imports.
"What they're doing to us in other countries is terrible with digital," Trump told reporters ahead of his memo signing.
He previewed the action last week, saying that he would impose tariffs on goods from Canada and France over their digital service taxes. A White House fact sheet released at the time said each had collected over $500 million annually in DST revenues, with global levies at over $2 billion.
Trump's memo also directs his administration to review whether any policy in the European Union or Britain "incentivizes US companies to develop or use products and technology in ways that undermine free speech or foster censorship."
The White House fact sheet said that it will especially scrutinize how US firms are treated under the EU's Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act.
Sources told Reuters earlier on Friday that Google is set to be charged with breaching the Digital Markets Act after proposed changes to its search results failed to address the EU antitrust regulator's concerns and those of its rivals.
