Overview

• President Donald Trump warned on August 25 that he would impose substantial additional tariffs and restrict exports of U.S. technology and chips unless what Washington deems discriminatory measures are withdrawn.
• His remarks appeared to be aimed at European measures including the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act as well as the United Kingdom’s digital services tax.
• The European Commission countered that the EU’s rules do not target U.S. companies and affirmed the union’s sovereign authority to set platform and competition standards.
• The threat fits a broader strategy since January in which the administration has applied country-by-country tariffs and sector-specific duties, notably on steel, aluminum and autos.
• Earlier this year Trump halted trade talks with Canada over a planned digital tax that Ottawa later said it would rescind, and a separate doubling of U.S. tariffs on Indian products is due this week over India’s purchases of Russian oil.