US President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs and export controls on countries whose taxes, rules or laws on tech companies “discriminate” against the US.
In a post on his Truth Social platform late on Monday, Mr Trump railed against “Digital Taxes, Legislation, Rules, or Regulations” and warned he could impose more levies and institute tighter controls on exports of US technologies.
The move will be watched nervously in Ireland which is the international home to some of the big US tech companies and thus has a key role in their regulation - one of the apparent targets of the US president.
“As the President of the United States, I will stand up to Countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies. Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation, and Digital Markets Regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology,” Trump wrote.
RM Block
“They also, outrageously, give a complete pass to China’s largest Tech Companies. This must end, and end NOW!”
The broadside risks reigniting trade tensions with the UK and the EU, which both struck recent trade agreements with Washington. Ireland will be nervous about what direct action the president might take and also the risk of a wider tit-for-tat conflict between the EU and US on the regulation governing the big tech players, which could place the State in the frontline.
US officials have repeatedly criticised regulation of technology companies in the EU as the bloc introduced a raft of legislation aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech. Among the targets has been the Digital Services Act, which forces big tech companies to police their platforms more aggressively and tackle disinformation and harmful material.
The Trump administration has been critical of the rules, describing regulations as “extortion” and said they were designed to “plunder” American companies.
The EU’s upcoming AI legislation has also come under fire from US tech companies, warning that punitive regulations could chill innovation in Europe.
The UK’s digital services tax has also come under fire, although it was kept in place following its deal with the Trump administration.
Several EU member states, including France, Italy and Spain, also have digital services taxes in place, though Ireland does not.
However, the EU backed off a wider digital services tax in July, amid trade negoatiations with the US.
During Mr Trump’s first term, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers criticised foreign governments’ efforts to levy additional taxes on tech companies as discriminatory.
In February, Mr Trump ordered the US trade representative to reopen investigations that could lead to tariffs on countries that have imposed a digital services tax.
In June, Canada scrapped its digital services tax, which Mr Trump had described as a “direct and blatant” attack, in an effort to smooth trade negotiations with its neighbour.
UK officials also weighed changes to its tech tax during talks with the US, but were ultimately able to reach a trade deal without amending the levy.
The 2 per cent tax, which hits tech giants including Alphabet, Meta and Amazon, is applied to companies with global revenues of more than £500 million (€579 million), and is applied on revenues greater than £25 million derived from the UK. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
