Source: Cailian
Cailian News, August 29 (Editor Xia Junxiong)Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed concerns about digital taxes during a White House meeting just days before U.S. President Trump threatened to impose "massive" tariffs on countries that impose digital taxes, according to sources.
According to CCTV news, Trump posted on social media on the 26th, warning all countries that implement digital regulation and digital taxes, saying that unless these countries withdraw discriminatory measures against American companies, they will impose additional impositions on their goods exported to the United States. high tariffs and restrictions on the export of high-tech products such as chips to these countries.
Informed sources revealed that Zuckerberg went to the White House late last weekend to meet with Trump. During the meeting, Trump and Zuckerberg discussed the issue of digital service tax.
A few days after meeting with Zuckerberg, Trump publicly challenged relevant countries on digital tax and digital supervision issues.
Mr. Trump said he was "warning" all countries with digital taxes that the US would impose "massive" tariffs and restrictions on semiconductor exports unless these "discriminatory measures" were removed.
“I will resolutely oppose those nations that attack our great American tech company,” Trump wrote on his self-created social media platform Truth Social on Monday.
Although Trump did not name specific countries or regions, it is widely believed that his remarks were aimed at the European Union.
Trump's statement rekindled the long-standing friction between him and American trading partners, which existed as early as last week's meeting with Zuckerberg.
U.S. officials have been exerting pressure in trade negotiations with other countries and the European Union, arguing that the digital tax is unfair to U.S. technology giants such as Meta, Amazon and Google's parent company Alphabe.
Countries currently implementing digital services tax include France, Italy, Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom, with different tax rates and applicable thresholds.
The Digital Services Tax covers the revenue technology companies earn from users in specific countries. Take Meta, for example, and the company’s main source of revenue is advertising for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp users.
In response to Trump's public threat, the EU responded on Monday that it has the right to independently formulate and implement its digital regulatory policies.