𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK should it refuse to abolish its digital services tax on American social media giants.

The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, places a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech firms. Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, Mr Trump 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 applies to companies whose global revenues from digital activities surpass £500 million, with over £25 million of those revenues derived from UK users. Mr Trump claimed the laws, which have long been a source of tension in UK-US relations, targeted “top companies in the world”.

He said: “The UK did it, a couple of other people did it. They think they’re going to make an easy buck, that’s why they’ve all taken advantage of our country.”

The digital services tax remained unchanged under the UK–US trade deal agreed in May 2025, despite being a point of discussion. When asked how substantial the tariff would be, the president said it would be “more than what they’re getting” from the levy. “What we’ll do is we’ll reciprocate by putting something on that’s equal or greater than what they’re doing,” he said. The remarks add to the growing strain on UK-US relations, which have deteriorated further following Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to commit Britain to involvement in the Middle East conflict.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump hinted that the terms of the UK-US trade agreement brokered last year “can always be changed” during an interview with Sky News.

Addressing MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, Sir Keir spoke candidly about the pressure being applied by the US over the Iran war. He told MPs: “My position on the Iran war has been clear from the start. We’re not going to get dragged into this war. It is not our war.

“A lot of pressure has been applied to me to take a different course, and that pressure included what happened last night. I’m not going to change my mind. I’m not going to yield. It is not in our national interest to join this war, and we will not do so. I know where I stand.”

Mr Trump’s comments come several months after similar US threats to impose fresh tariffs and export controls on nations operating digital taxes or regulations that impact American tech giants. Several European countries, including France, Italy and Spain, currently operate a digital services tax. In a post on Truth Social from August 2025, Mr Trump declared he would “stand up to countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies”. “Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation, and Digital Markets Regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology,” he wrote. “This must end,” he declared, pledging that “unless these discriminatory actions are removed”, he would “impose substantial additional tariffs” on the exports of offending nations to the US.

Downing Street has been contacted for comment by PA Media.