President Donald Trump warned on Friday that he would impose 100% tariffs on European goods if countries in the region introduce digital services taxes targeting US tech giants, drawing a swift rebuke from the European Union.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said "numerous" European nations were considering such measures and that some were "close" to implementing them, although he did not name any specific countries.
"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," he wrote.
Trump added that the tariffs would supersede existing trade agreements, "whether implemented, signed, or not," and would take effect immediately if countries proceeded with the taxes.
The European Commission rejected the threat, saying the bloc would defend its regulatory autonomy.
"The EU and its member states have the sovereign right to regulate economic activities on their territory, in line with our democratic values and international commitments," a commission spokesman said.
"Unilateral measures targeting such legitimate policies are unjustified. If pursued, the EU will respond swiftly and decisively to defend its rights and regulatory autonomy."
The spokesman added that EU tax measures apply equally to all large companies regardless of their country of origin and are not discriminatory.
He also reiterated the EU's support for a global approach to taxing the digital economy, in line with agreements reached by the finance ministers of the Group of Seven.
"That remains our preferred path, and we are ready to engage constructively to get there," the spokesman said.
The EU and the US reached a trade agreement last year aimed at ending a heated tariff dispute. Full implementation on the EU side was delayed, but EU member states recently gave final approval to eliminate tariffs on US industrial goods and improve market access for seafood and agricultural products.
A safeguard mechanism allows the EU to suspend tariff concessions if Washington breaches the deal, including through renewed tariff increases. The agreement is expected to be fully implemented by July 4.
Digital services taxes are designed to ensure large technology companies pay taxes in markets where they generate revenue, even if they have limited physical operations there.
Any such measure would affect major US firms including Google and Meta.
Austria has required large online platforms to pay a 5% tax on advertising revenue generated in the country since 2020.
Britain already has a digital services tax in place, which applies to major US technology companies. Trump has previously threatened similar tariffs over such measures, but never followed through.
Germany, the largest economy in Europe, has debated introducing a levy on large internet platforms.
The country's politically independent media commissioner Wolfram Weimer has advocated a dedicated charge on companies such as Google to support Germany's media system, while members of the governing centre-left Social Democrats have favoured a more traditional digital services tax.
Tariffs have been a central feature of Trump's second term, although his aggressive trade policies have also faced setbacks. The US Supreme Court has ruled that many of his tariff measures were unlawful.
