President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on June 26 to deliver what amounts to an economic ultimatum: any country that taxes US digital companies will face a 100% import tariff on all goods shipped to the United States. The threat lands squarely on European nations, several of which have been building or enforcing digital services taxes aimed at the biggest names in American tech.
Just one day earlier, on June 25, the EU adopted legislation to comply with a US trade agreement that included tariff reductions on American goods.
What’s actually happening
Digital services taxes, or DSTs, are levies that countries impose on revenue generated by large tech platforms operating within their borders. The UK, France, Italy, and Spain are among the European nations that have either implemented or proposed such taxes.
More than a dozen countries worldwide have adopted or are actively considering DSTs. The targets are familiar: Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon.
