A year ago, when President Donald Trump threatened sky-high tariffs on nearly everything coming from everywhere, global markets trembled and foreign leaders scrambled. Now the same threat barely registers.
That’s largely thanks to a February Supreme Court ruling that stripped the president of his most potent tariff weapon and left him with far more limited options for making good on his threats. But the verdict hasn’t stopped Trump from trying anyway.
On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that any European country implementing a digital services tax would be “immediately met with a 100% tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States,” adding that the levy would “supersede trade deals” already in place.
“Digital services” encompasses a wide range of businesses, from Google’s ads to Spotify streams. Digital services taxes are structured such that governments can collect revenue from large companies that operate online — even if the business is unprofitable.
Given many of the largest tech businesses are American, Trump has previously argued that digital services taxes disproportionately punish them. The Congressional Research Service, which is officially nonpartisan, agreed with that assessment in certain instances.
