Trump threatens tariff on UK over digital service tax

Published: 2026-04-23 22:34:22 ET GOOGL

Published on 04/23/2026 at 10:34 pm EDT

STORY: :: Washington, D.C. / April 23, 2026

:: Trump threatens the UK with tariffs over its digital service tax which impacts U.S. firms

Trump: "We don't like it when they target American companies. Because basically you're talking about our great American companies and whether we like those companies or don't like them, they're American companies and they're top companies in the world. And we are looking at it. We've been looking at it. UK did a couple of other people. Did they think they're going to make an easy buck. That's why they've all taken advantage of our country. They don't take advantage of it. We've been looking at it and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK. So they better be careful. If they don't drop the tax will probably put a big tariff on the UK."

Many countries, particularly in Europe, have levied taxes on the sales revenue of digital service providers, including Alphabet's Google, Meta's Facebook, Apple and Amazon. The issue has been a longstanding trade irritant for multiple U.S. administrations.