Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100% tariff on all UK goods unless Britain abandons its digital services tax on American technology companies – a move the US president says would override any existing trade deal between the two nations.
Writing on his Truth Social platform on Friday, Trump said: “Numerous European Countries have been discussing the imminent implementation of a Digital Services Tax on American Companies. 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 threatens 100% tariff on UK unless it drops digital services tax on US tech firms.”
He added that the tariff would “supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not”. The threat echoes one he made in April, when he warned: “We’ve been looking at it and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful.”
The tax in question, introduced by the UK in 2020, levies a 2% charge on the revenues of major US firms such as Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Meta. It applies to companies with global digital revenues exceeding £500m, where more than £25m of that income comes from British users. According to a 2025 Treasury review, the levy raised more than £800m in 2024–25, up from £678m the previous year.
The threat is not limited to Britain. Trump has also warned France, which has charged a 3% digital services tax since 2019 on revenue earned by companies generating over €25m in the country and €750m worldwide. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would not bow to pressure. Earlier this week, Trump told The New York Post: “I asked [Macron] not to charge American companies, and if they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100% tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France. All [Macron] has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn’t have that kind of pressure.”
The latest ultimatum comes ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline for the European Union and the US to approve a tariff deal that caps most EU exports at 15%. That deal, struck in July last year after negotiations between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland, did not address digital taxes – which remain a sticking point between the two sides.
With Trump’s tariff now hanging over the UK’s digital services levy, the British government faces a stark choice: keep the tax and risk a punishing trade barrier, or scrap it and lose a revenue stream worth hundreds of millions.