President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose a “100% TARIFF” on the goods of any country that imposes a digital services tax on U.S. companies.
“This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
He added that those tariffs “will be immediately imposed” should countries proceed with their digital-tax plans.
Trump has previously vowed to retaliate against countries that impose digital services taxes, claiming they unfairly target U.S. tech giants. Last year, Trump vowed to cut off all trade talks with Canada over its own proposed version of the tax. Ottawa subsequently scrapped the levy shortly before it was set to come into effect.
Digital services taxes are typically structured to apply only to the world’s largest and most established tech companies, like Meta, Alphabet and Amazon, which are U.S. firms.
More than a dozen countries have imposed digital services taxes. Trump’s Friday afternoon post singled out “Numerous European Countries” that he says are considering imposing the taxes.
It is unclear which law would give Trump the authority to immediately slap massive tariffs on individual countries.
The Supreme Court has struck down Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, which sought to impose individualized tariff rates on nearly every country. The high court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize the Trump administration to unilaterally impose the sweeping global tariffs.
Hours after that defeat, Trump announced he had signed an executive order imposing a new global 10% tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. But tariffs created using that statute can last for only 150 days, with any extension requiring congressional approval.
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