THE GUARDIAN: US president accuses UK of thinking it can ‘make an easy buck’ from US tech companies, weeks after warning that UK–US trade deal can be changed
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms.
The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies.
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, the US president said: “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, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK.”
The tax targets companies whose worldwide revenues from digital activities exceed £500m ($673m), with more than £25m of the revenues from UK users.
Trump argued the laws, which have long been a source of tension in US-UK relations, targeted “top companies in the world”. » | Press Association | Friday, April 24, 2026