US President Donald Trump has ordered the head of the Department of Commerce to reopen investigations aimed at imposing tariffs on imports from countries that levy digital services taxes on American technology companies. About this reported the Reuters.
A White House spokesman said that Trump, as part of the memorandum, instructed his administration to consider appropriate actions, including tariffs, "to combat digital services taxes, fines, practices, and policies that foreign governments levy on American companies."
The memo directs the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reopen an investigation into digital services taxes initiated during Trump's first term, as well as investigate the activities of any other countries that use digital taxes "to discriminate against American companies," as stated in a White House briefing.
Digital services taxes typically target the dominant American tech giants: Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon.
Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, India, Austria, and Canada have levied taxes on the sales revenues of these and other digital service providers within their borders.
During Trump's first term, the US Department of Commerce filed unfair trade practice cases against several of these countries.
"What they are doing to us in other countries is terrible in the digital sphere," — Trump told reporters before signing the memorandum.
Trump's memorandum also instructs his administration to analyze whether any policies of the European Union or the United Kingdom encourage "American companies to develop or use products and technologies in ways that undermine free speech or promote censorship."
Thank you for being with us! Monobank for the support of the ElitExpert editorial office.
