Less than a week after a joint statement by the US and the EU on their agreement in the tariff dispute, US President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs against countries with laws regulating digital companies. “Digital taxes, digital services laws, and digital market regulations are all aimed at harming or disadvantaging American technology,” Trump said Monday on his online service Truth Social.
The comments appear to be aimed at European countries that have enacted laws to regulate the digital world. The European Union has regulations such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), which govern competition and the handling of prohibited content. The UK also has a tax on digital companies. Trump did not name any countries.
The US president warned that he would impose “significant additional tariffs” on products from these countries and impose export restrictions on US technology and chips unless the measures deemed ‘discriminatory’ by Washington were lifted. The US and its technology companies are “no longer the world's ‘piggy bank’ or ‘doormat,’” Trump wrote.
Brussels and Washington only agreed on a tariff agreement at the end of July. This provides for a 15 percent tariff on most EU products imported into the US. Last week, the EU presented a joint statement with the US setting out some details of the agreement. It does not mention EU digital legislation. Trade Commissioner Maros Sefkovic said last week: “We have kept these issues out of the trade negotiations.” The EU has “made it very clear that regulatory autonomy is absolutely essential for us.”
In response to Trump's latest threats, the EU Commission on Tuesday again referred to the “sovereign right” of EU countries to “regulate economic activities.” The EU will “continue with the implementation of the framework agreement, which rightly does not cover this issue,” said Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho. With the DMA, the EU wants to limit the market power of large technology companies and force them to comply with European competition rules. In this context, the EU Commission has already imposed penalties on the US technology companies Meta and Apple.
Proceedings are also underway against the online service X, owned by former Trump advisor Elon Musk. These proceedings concern alleged violations of the DSA. This law is intended to ensure that national laws, such as those on content harmful to minors and misinformation, are also implemented online. Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier emphasized on Tuesday that the DSA is not a censorship tool. The law merely requires online services to “enforce their own terms and conditions.” Trump has already threatened tariffs in the past if the EU regulations are implemented.
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