President Donald Trump declared on social media Friday that any country imposing a tax on digital services from U.S. companies would immediately face a 100% tariff on all its imports to the United States. This threat, he stated, would supersede any existing trade agreements.
Trump specifically targeted European nations, which he said were discussing the "imminent" implementation of such taxes. "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 wrote.
This is not the first time Trump has opposed foreign efforts to tax or regulate major American technology firms. Last August, he posted that digital taxes and regulations "are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology."
The warning comes ahead of a July 4 deadline for the European Union and the United States to finalize a tariff deal. The EU and the U.S. had previously reached a tentative agreement in May that would cap most tariffs on EU exports at 15%. That deal followed discussions within the EU and was tentatively struck by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. However, digital taxes were not part of that agreement and remain a contentious issue between the two blocs.