Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100% import tariff on any European country that introduces a digital services tax on American technology giants – a warning that places the UK directly in the crosshairs of the US president.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said “numerous European countries” had been discussing such a levy and some were close to implementing it. He warned that the punitive penalties would be applied immediately and would completely “supersede” any existing bilateral trade agreements.
“Donald Trump vows 100% tariff on any European country imposing digital services tax, putting UK's existing levy in jeopardy.”
“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.
While the post targets nations planning new levies, its precise implications for the UK were not immediately clear, given London has had a digital services tax (DST) in place since 2020. The UK’s 2% DST applies to major search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces with global revenues from their digital businesses exceeding £500 million and total UK revenues surpassing £25 million. It impacts 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 in 2023–24, according to the Treasury.
In April, Trump said that the UK faced “a big tariff” for purportedly targeting major US companies with the tax. “They think they’re going to make an easy buck, that’s why they’ve all taken advantage of our country,” Trump said at the time.
The Department for Business and Trade and the Treasury have been contacted for comment.
Trump’s threat of retaliation against European nations that may be planning to launch or revise their own digital services taxes comes just days after the US and EU finalised a new trade deal. Michael Damianos, minister of energy, commerce and industry of the Republic of Cyprus, said at the time that “the EU can respond swiftly and proportionately when the deal is not respected or its interests are at stake.”
France, Italy and Spain also impose a digital services tax of 3% on large companies operating in their countries, and several other EU nations have implemented or proposed a similar tax, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit group focused on tax policy. Amazon earlier this year upped its fees on sellers, citing such taxes.
Trump has attempted to impose large tariffs on many countries since he became president again in 2025. 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 over claims that such levies were needed.