Donald Trump has warned that any European country introducing a digital services tax on American tech giants will face an immediate 100% import tariff — a threat that casts a shadow over Britain’s existing levy.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president said “Numerous European countries” had been discussing such a tax and some were close to implementing it. He declared that punitive tariffs would “supersede” any existing bilateral trade agreements. “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,” he wrote.
“Trump vows 100% tariff on any European country with a digital services tax, targeting UK's existing levy.”
The precise implications for the UK are unclear, given that London has had a digital services tax in place since 2020. Britain’s 2% DST applies to major search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces with global revenues from digital businesses exceeding £500 million and UK revenues over £25 million. It hits some of the largest US companies, including Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon, and raised more than £800 million in 2024–25, up from £678 million the previous year, according to the Treasury.
Trump’s latest broadside follows his comment in April that the UK faced “a big tariff” for purportedly targeting US firms. “They think they’re going to make an easy buck, that’s why they’ve all taken advantage of our country,” he said at the time.
The threat comes just days after the US and European Union finalised a new trade deal. Michael Damianos, minister of energy, commerce and industry of the Republic of Cyprus, said then that “the EU can respond swiftly and proportionately when the deal is not respected or its interests are at stake”.
France, Italy and Spain already impose a 3% digital services tax on large companies, and several other EU nations have implemented or proposed similar levies, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit tax policy group. Amazon earlier this year increased fees on sellers, citing such taxes.
The US Supreme Court in February struck down Trump’s earlier attempt to impose a global tariff of 10%. Nevertheless, the US recently announced new tariffs of 10–12.5% on dozens of countries accounting for almost all its imports. The Department for Business and Trade and the Treasury have been contacted for comment.