Key conclusions
- Trump's tariffs threatened: Trump threatens tariffs and export restrictions in countries with digital services (DST), aimed at technical giants such as Google and Amazon.
- Impact on the UK and the EU: Great Britain and the EU are faced with pressure, since they balance the restoration of the economy and technological regulation, and the UK offers concessions to avoid tariffs.
- Big Tech tax evasion: Trump criticizes DST as double taxation, but critics indicate that Big Tech is already using tax strategies to reduce its global tax burden.
- Potential trade wars: Trump’s actions could cause trade wars, weaken international cooperation and force small countries to reconsider the regulation of large technologies.
If Donald Trump’s trading play seems familiar, this is because it is so; This time, however, he is aimed at allies instead of opponents.
IN Recent post about the truth of socialTrump threatened wide tariffs and restrictions on exports to countries that regulate or tax American technological giants such as Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple. He is currently focused on Great Britain digital Service tax (DST) And similar fees throughout the EU, including France, Italy and Spain.
DST of Great Britain, introduced in 2020, imposes 2% of the fees for the income of large online platforms working in the UK, regardless of where they are based. Politics, according to estimates, will generate 500 million pounds a year, mainly from American technological companies.
At its core, Trump’s threat encourages an increasingly important question: is this a protection of American economic interests or just another step in his global political pressure to benefit great technologies?
Let's carefully consider what drives these threats and what they mean for future digital regulation, international trade and technical power in the world arena.
What are taxes on digital services and why is Trump crazy?
Taxes for digital services (DSTS) are levied on income – Not profit – large technological companies working in the country's digital market, even if they lack physical presence. As a rule, they relate to platforms such as social networks, search engines and online trading platforms, and are usually in the range of 2-3%.
The UK introduced its DST in 2020, having invested 2% of the income tax on services such as online advertising and user content. According to reports, GeneIndicators of about 500 million pounds Every year from companies such as Google, Amazon and Meta.
France, Italy and Spain have introduced similar digital tax regimes. Trump is not satisfied with this: he claims that these politicians “discriminate against” against American firms, while “giving a full pass” by Chinese technological giants.
Canada recently removed His DST, after Trump called it a “egregious” attack on American business, establishing a precedent for how US pressure can lead to the fact that countries in other places drew attention to their political decisions.
Trump threats: rhetoric or trade policy?
In the classical fashion of Trump, the message was not subtle at all:
“Show respect for America and our amazing technological companies or think about the consequences!”
Warning followed his February 2025 Executive Order Under the name “Protection of American companies and innovators from foreign extortionists and unjust fines and fines.” The document sets out the basis for response tariffs and export restrictions on countries that “discriminate against” American firms, especially in the field of technology.
Trump threats include:
- Export tariffs Of countries such as Great Britain, France and Spain.
- Export restrictions On “highly protected” US technologies, including chips and components of artificial intelligence
This happened just a few months after the UK completed the trade agreement after Brexit with the United States in May, who entered into force At the end of June. At the same time, the EU made a joint statement in which the United States promises to consider “unjustified trading barriers.”
Nevertheless, none of these agreements clearly concerned digital taxation, and Trump seems to seek to use this ambiguity.
What is put on a map for the UK and the EU?
Trump's threats come in subtle time both for the UK and the EU, since each of them focuses on restoring the economy after the pandemic, geopolitical uncertainty and constant efforts to regulate large technologies.
In the UK, political pressure is already obvious. Earlier this year, The reports are disclosed This Prime Minister Keir Starmer carefully offered DST breaks to American technological companies to please Trump, still imposing a fee from other countries.
Critics claim that such concessions can weaken the regulatory sovereignty of Great Britain and damage its negotiations in future trade transactions.
Ed Dave, the leader of the liberal democratic party in the UK (often called liberal demors), slammed this idea: “
The prime minister must exclude the bullying of Donald Trump, having submitted a tax on digital services of the British.“
Meanwhile, the situation in the EU is a little more complicated. The block has recently passed Digital Services Law (DSA)which ensures the observance of broad rules in the field of large technologies, including content moderation and data transparency.
While the joint statement of the EU-SSHA gave vague promises “to solve unjustified trading barriers,” Brussels explained that Washington would not dictate his normative program.
As part of the EU, France and Spain took solid position on dstsWhile Germany, which is more focused on trade, is cautioning.
Big technology in the middle: lobbying power and real influence
The basis of trade tension is a well -known fact: a large technical profit from significantly favorable international tax transactions.
And although Trump loves to pay taxes on digital services as “unjust double taxation”, critics say that they ignore such companies as Apple, Meta and Amazon, regularly transfer profits with a low level of taxes, such as Ireland and Luxembourg to reduce their global tax burden.
According to Fair Tax Fund“Six Silicone” – Meta, Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix and Microsoft – almost 300 billion dollars over the past decade over the past decade, mainly due to aggressive tax planning.
With this context, Trump’s threats sound much less, similar to a bold trade policy and are more like a lobbying echo. In his post on social truth, he also did not make efforts to hide it; His words sounded as if they had come directly from the Great Technological Pac.
“Show respect for America and our amazing technological companies, or think about the consequences!”
Canada’s decision to give in to the pressure of the United States and eliminate its DST can encourage large technological companies and their agreed politicians to even confront the tax reforms of the EU and the UK.
Protectionism or pressure?
Trump's last threats reveal a growing conflict between the protection of American innovations and the protection of corporate profit. While his rhetoric addresses nationalist feelings, a policy associated with participation clearly prefers already powerful technical giants, often due to international cooperation.
If tariffs and export controls are used against rivals and allies, such as Great Britain and the EU, this can cause a new wave of response wars. This not only damages diplomacy; It also undermines the trust in the most trade agreements intended for the assistance of justice.
Smaller countries can reconsider the regulation of large technologies from fear of a niva reaction from Washington and the Trump administration.
And this can be a decisive moment. This moment is not only about tax policy; This can signal the beginning of the new US trading doctrine, in which the interests and political strategies of the Silicone Valley become more intertwined.
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