{"id":17883,"date":"2025-02-22T04:34:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T04:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/22\/trump-orders-tariffs-on-digital-service-tax-countries-including-canada-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-22T04:34:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T04:34:07","slug":"trump-orders-tariffs-on-digital-service-tax-countries-including-canada-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/22\/trump-orders-tariffs-on-digital-service-tax-countries-including-canada-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump orders tariffs on digital service tax countries, including Canada – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> has signed a memorandum to impose tariffs on countries that levy digital service taxes<\/a> on U.S. technology companies, a White House official said.<\/p>\n

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Another official, providing details of the order, said Trump was directing his administration to consider responsive actions like tariffs \u201cto combat the digital service taxes (DSTs), fines, practices, and policies that foreign governments levy on American companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump will not allow foreign governments to appropriate America\u2019s tax base for their own benefit,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

The memo directs the U.S. Trade Representative\u2019s office to renew digital service taxes investigations that were initiated during Trump\u2019s first term, and investigate any additional countries that use a digital tax \u201cto discriminate against U.S. companies,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

Trump said last week that he would\u00a0impose tariffs\u00a0on Canada and France over their digital service taxes, and a White House fact sheet released at the time said that \u201conly America should be allowed to tax American firms.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It complained that Canada and France used the taxes to each collect over $500 million per year from U.S. companies.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOverall, these non-reciprocal taxes cost America\u2019s firms over $2 billion per year. Reciprocal tariffs will bring back fairness and prosperity to the distorted international trade system and stop Americans from being taken advantage of,\u201d said the fact sheet. It gave no further details.<\/p>\n

The digital service taxes aimed at U.S. tech giants including Alphabet\u2019s Google, Meta\u2019s Facebook, Apple and Amazon have been a source of trade disputes for years.<\/p>\n

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Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, India, Austria and Canada have imposed the taxes, levied on revenues earned from digital services sold within their borders.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Trade Representative\u2019s office during Trump\u2019s first term found them to discriminate against U.S. companies and readied retaliatory tariffs.<\/p>\n