April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on Britain if Prime Minister Keir Starmer does not drop the digital service tax, The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing
Trump threatens Starmer with ‘big tariff’ over tech tax, Telegraph reports
Trump's Warning Over UK's Digital Service Tax
Tariff Threat Linked to Digital Service Tax
April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on Britain if Prime Minister Keir Starmer does not drop the digital service tax, The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing an interview with the president.
Trump's Statement to The Telegraph
Trump told The Telegraph he would “put a big tariff on the UK” if it did not drop its tax, which is viewed as unfairly targeting U.S. tech companies.
Background on the UK Digital Services Tax
Introduction of the Tax
The United Kingdom rolled out its 2% digital services tax in 2020, a move that has been criticized by Trump and his predecessor Democrat Joe Biden. The digital service tax targets companies like Apple, Alphabet's Google , and Meta .
Trump's Criticism of the Tax
Impact on American Companies
“I don’t like it when they target American companies, because basically, you’re talking about our great American companies...and the top companies in the world,” Trump said.
Potential Tariff Response
“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,” he added.
Context and Upcoming Events
King Charles's Visit to the U.S.
Trump's comments come ahead of a visit by Britain's King Charles to the U.S., next week.
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
