In a bold move, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday plans to slap retaliatory tariffs on countries that impose digital taxes on American tech companies. 🇺🇸💼
When asked about signing an executive order on digital taxes, Trump didn't hesitate to give a firm yes. \"We are going to be doing that, digital. What they're doing to us in other countries is terrible with digital, so we're going to be announcing that,\" he stated.
The White House released a fact sheet earlier this month highlighting the impact: \"Canada and France use these taxes to each collect over $500 million per year from American companies. Overall, these non-reciprocal taxes cost America's firms over $2 billion per year.\"
Countries like Canada and several European nations have been pushing for digital service taxes on big tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta. The U.S. has strongly opposed these measures, arguing they unfairly target American businesses.
During his first term, Trump initiated a \"301 investigation\" into these digital taxes, accusing trade partners of unjust practices. After Joe Biden took office, the U.S. reached a compromise with Austria, Britain, France, Italy, and Spain in October 2021 to resolve the dispute under the OECD's global tax deal.
However, on January 20, Trump signed a memorandum declaring the OECD's corporate minimum tax deal as having \"no force or effect\" in the U.S., effectively withdrawing from the agreement negotiated by the Biden administration with nearly 140 countries.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
