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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Economy & Trade

Trump threatens 100% tariffs on nations taxing U.S. firms

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • President Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on goods from any country that taxes U.S. companies with a digital services tax.
  • The threat escalates trade tensions, particularly with European nations discussing or implementing such taxes on American tech giants.
  • This move could override existing trade agreements and impact goods beyond those covered by current tariffs.

President Donald Trump issued a stark warning Friday: any nation imposing a digital services tax on American companies will face a 100% tariff on all its exports to the United States. This declaration, made via social media, intensifies trans-Pacific trade friction just one day after European nations met Trump's demands to lower tariffs on U.S. goods.

Trump specified that this new tariff would supersede any existing trade agreements, whether implemented or signed. This includes a deal with the European Union from last year, which capped U.S. tariffs on European goods at 15% in exchange for the EU eliminating tariffs on U.S. industrial products. The EU had been undergoing a lengthy legislative process to fulfill its commitments under that agreement.

Please consider this statement as formal notification that any country that implements such a tax will face a 100% tariff on all of its exports to the United States, effective immediately.

— Donald TrumpTrump's statement on social media announcing the tariff threat.

The threat comes as several European countries, including France, have been discussing or moving towards implementing digital services taxes on U.S. tech firms. French President Emmanuel Macron had previously stated France would not yield to Trump's pressure regarding its own digital tax. Trump had previously warned of a 100% tariff on French wine if the digital tax was not rescinded.

France's digital tax, enacted in 2019, applies a 3% levy on companies with digital service revenues exceeding 25 million euros ($27 million) in the country, or global revenues over 750 million euros. U.S. trade officials have long argued that these taxes discriminate against leading American companies and have threatened retaliatory tariffs against France, the UK, Austria, and Spain.

France will not yield to pressure.

— Emmanuel MacronMacron's statement prior to meeting Trump at the G7 summit.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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