Trump Eyes Tariffs to Counter Digital Taxes Big Tech Loathes

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President Donald Trump said he will sign a memorandum Friday to counter digital services taxes some countries impose on US tech giants, a step that could expand a global battle aimed at addressing imbalances in trade.

The memo will call for the Office of the US Trade Representative to propose retaliatory measures, including tariffs, on countries that impose digital taxes on US tech companies such as Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., according to people familiar with the plans.

“What they’re doing to us in other countries is terrible with digital. So we’ll be announcing that,” Trump told reporters on Friday.

The memo, which the people familiar discussed on condition of anonymity before it is made public, focuses broadly on digital trade issues. It is not expected to implement tariffs immediately and it does not set a timeline for when such duties might take effect, the people said.

The move addresses an issue that has long been a concern for Trump — dating back to his first stint in the White House. In 2019, the USTR initiated separate probes into the tax systems for France, Italy, Spain, India and other countries, with the US concluding at the time that the taxes were discriminatory and disproportionately hurt American firms.

Some nations have since withdrawn their digital services tax plans and instead joined a global negotiation for a minimum tax on tech companies — but those talks have stalled repeatedly.

According to the Computer and Communications Industry Association, approximately 30 countries have adopted or proposed DSTs in recent years, including other major US trading partners such as the UK and Canada. Canada’s tax took effect in 2024.

Trump’s action comes ahead of a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has a digital tax that hits major US tech multinationals, and whose finance minister said earlier this month they intended to keep in place.

France was one of the first countries to implement a digital services tax. The two sides negotiated a truce, under which France would have withdrawn the tax after global rules on taxing digital multinationals came into effect. Those negotiations, however, never concluded.

US retaliation over digital taxes threatens to roil already tense relations with France and other European countries already at odds with Washington over Trump’s push to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump and his allies have railed against what he sees as unfair practices from Europe over trade, taxation and efforts to counter mis- or dis-information on social media that he says target US tech companies. More broadly, Trump’s plans highlight how in his second term he has sought to employ tariffs to reshape global trade ties and force companies to move production to the US.

The president has already imposed a blanket 10% tax on imports from China, ordered — and then paused — 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, unveiled plans for a 25% levy on US imports of steel and aluminum and directed his administration to propose a round of reciprocal tariffs for each trading partner. He’s also said tariffs on automobiles, semiconductors and drug imports are forthcoming.

Trump’s second term has seen Silicon Valley executives seek to woo the new president, with the prominent CEOs of some of the country’s largest tech companies visiting him at his Mar-a-Lago estate during the transition and attending his inauguration last month. Trump has vowed to target policies abroad he says harm those giants but many of his moves, such as fresh tariffs, threaten to squeeze tech companies that rely on global supply chains.

(Updates with Trump remarks throughout)