White House native Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that countries implementing digital services taxes will face heavy tariffs and tip export bans from the US.
The warning was posted to the Truth Society, written by Trump:
“Please note that I have digital taxes, laws, rules or regulations in all countries and that unless these discriminatory cases are removed, I will impose substantial additional tariffs on my exports to the United States as President of the United States.”
Trump too I wrote it that:
“We will enact export restrictions on highly protected technologies and chips,” he didn’t stop there. In the same post, he added, “Respect America and our amazing tech companies or consider the outcome!”
The message is aimed at dozens of countries that apply digital taxes to American platforms such as Meta, Alphabet and Amazon, mostly US trading partners.
Trump has long said these policies are built to punish American innovation. And he did more than he talked about. In June, when Canada was ready to activate its own DST, Trump withdrew from trade negotiations.
Just before the tax came into effect, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government walked behind it. “Canadian caves,” officials publicly said.
Trump promotes trade threats more than magnets, chips and planes
Digital taxes are not the only issue at Trump’s table. Speaking to reporters on Monday after a meeting with South Korean President Lee Mi Myung, Trump threatened tariffs on China’s rare earth magnet exports, saying, “If they don’t give us magnets, we’ll have to charge 200% tariffs and more.” He linked the issue to a critical supply chain in which the United States relies on national security and technology manufacturing.
Trump also revealed that the plane’s parts are being used as leverage in his continued conflict China. He said, “200 of their planes couldn’t fly, so we weren’t intentionally giving them Boeing parts because they didn’t give us magnets.” The threat came ashore while Boeing was still finalizing a major deal with China, including as many as 500 aircraft. The lecture covers models, types and distribution conditions.
China’s monopoly on rare earth magnets gives great control in technology-related negotiations. They produce 90% of the world’s supply and also dominates purification. In April, China placed export restrictions on materials and crashed cargo.
However, by June, exports to the US had rebounded, surged by 660% from the previous month, and climbed an additional 76% in July. These magnets are essential for electronics, electric vehicles and defense systems, making the US position in their supply chain particularly vulnerable.
Digital Tax elicits bipartisan rebellion for us
Trump’s fight against digital taxes doesn’t come from an oval office. In 2023, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and ranking member Mike Crapo warned US trade representatives that Canada’s DST would “expose innovative American companies to arbitrary discrimination.” The letter was part of a growing push within Congress to put US businesses into the hands of foreign taxes.
Countries that have established DSTs simply say they want fairness. They insist on that High-tech companies They make billions of dollars from territorial users, but pay nothing in return. They see it as compensation for digital services operating within the borders, whilst avoiding domestic tax systems.
Trump doesn’t care about that reasoning. He believes these rules are custom built to target American companies. It is especially large enough to show up on the global balance sheet. In his latest post, laws that clash with US technology are treated as hostile acts.
This includes not only taxes, but regulations, rules, or suggestions related to digital services. And now, Trump is adding technology exports and rare earth materials to the same trade war.
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