French President Emmanuel Macron vowed a strong response if any country takes measures that undermine Europe’s digital sovereignty.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump threatened to impose fresh tariffs and export restrictions on countries that have digital services taxes or regulations that harm American tech companies. France was among the first nations to implement a digital services tax.
“We will not let anyone else decide for us on this matter,” he told reporters in Toulon, France, on Friday. “We cannot allow our digital sector or the regulations we have chosen for ourselves, which are a necessity, to be threatened today.”
Trump has long railed against EU tech and antitrust regulation over U.S. tech giants including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple Inc.
An EU official said that the bloc’s attempts to clamp down on U.S. tech giants — in the form of its digital competition and online content rules — is not up for negotiation.
Other nations with digital services taxes include Italy, Austria, Spain and the U.K. Rates and thresholds vary among jurisdictions.
The EU recently agreed to a trade arrangement with the U.S. that will see the bloc face 15% tariffs on most of its exports. Some are calling for that deal to be revisited if Trump adds more punitive measures.
The EU’s industry chief, Stephane Sejourne, said on Wednesday that the bloc may need to reassess that trade arrangement if Trump were to follow through on those threats related to digital services. Some have called for the EU to use its so-called anti-coercion instrument, which allows the bloc to retaliate against U.S. technology companies.
“For now, I have heard intentions, not declarations,” Sejourne said at the Medef business conference in Paris. “If intentions turn into declarations, the terms of this agreement will have to be reviewed.”
