Trump Orders Plan for Tariffs in Response to Digital Taxes, Foreign Online Regulations

February 21, 2025 TruthUSA

Trump told his administration to identify countries applying fees and regulations on U.S. businesses providing online goods and services.

President Donald Trump issued new instructions on Feb. 21, directing his administration to identify which foreign governments are imposing taxes, fines, and regulations on U.S. companies doing business abroad, and to prepare for responsive tariffs.

In a memorandum he sent to the Treasury and Commerce Departments, as well as the office of the U.S. Trade Representative and White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, Trump instructed his administration to look at which countries are imposing these fees and regulations on U.S. businesses and determine tariffs and other responsive actions to “mitigate the harm to the United States and to repair any resulting imbalance.”

Among the fines and fees that Trump’s memorandum looks to address are digital services taxes (DSTs).

The memorandum directs the office of the U.S. Trade Representative to restart a practice that Trump began during his first term of investigating which countries are levying DSTs against multinational business enterprises that provide goods or services online.

A fact sheet provided by the White House states that foreign governments have used these DSTs against U.S. businesses when they shouldn’t otherwise be subject to foreign jurisdiction.

“President Trump will not allow foreign governments to appropriate America’s tax base for their own benefit,” the White House fact sheet reads.

Trump’s memorandum also directs his administration to review whether other countries have adopted any policies or practices that incentivize U.S. companies to divulge their intellectual property or that undermine freedom of speech and require companies to self-censor.

“Regulations that dictate how American companies interact with consumers in the European Union, like the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, will face scrutiny from the Administration,” the White House said.

The European Union (EU) adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA) in 2022, employing a new regulatory framework to review how online platforms moderate potentially illegal or objectionable content. The law also imposes obligations on online platforms to disclose information about their content moderation decisions and their efforts to remove disinformation and misinformation that could impact elections and public discourse.

Elon Musk, who owns the X social media platform and leads the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, has recently clashed with the European bloc over DSA policies.

Last month, former EU digital policy chief Thierry Breton warned that an interview Musk planned to conduct with Alternative for Germany (AfD) party leader Alice Weidel on the X platform could give the party “a significant and valuable advantage” over its political competitors. Breton later said that the interview would be monitored and that X could be fined or banned if the interview ran afoul of DSA regulations.

Trump has sought to use tariffs and other economic measures as a means of pressuring other nations to discontinue policies and practices that he said have been unfair to the United States.

Last week, Trump issued another memorandum instructing his administration to prepare reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners.

Trump has also prepared to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, and 10 percent tariffs on goods imported from China. He agreed to delay the tariffs against Mexico and Canada after reaching new agreements to increase border security along their shared boundaries. He has also agreed to delay tariffs on low-cost imports from China, for now.

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