Donald Trump suggested on Friday that the EU’s enforcement of its Big Tech laws is on the table in ongoing trade talks that could see the EU make concessions in order to avoid certain US tariffs.
The US president announced the immediate suspension of trade talks with Canada via a post on his Truth Social platform over their tax on US technology companies.
In enforcing their digital services tax, Canada was “obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us,” he said.
The EU does not tax US tech firms specifically, but Trump has previously criticised the bloc’s laws to rein in anticompetitive behaviour by those firms and moderate the content they publish – the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, respectively. These rules include fines for non-compliance following investigations.
Trump’s Friday post is a suggestion that EU negotiators may be discussing how those laws are enforced against US firms in their talks on a deal to lower tariffs on European exports across the Atlantic.
The European Commission denied Trump’s suggestion. “We have been very clear on the sovereignty of our decision-making process, including our digital laws, they are untouchable,” a spokesperson said.
“We are still fully and deeply engaged in negotiations,” they added.
Trump’s comments come just a day after EU leaders were divided on whether to accept a baseline 10% tariff on exports to the US – while possibly imposing their own retaliatory 10% tariff – at their summit in Brussels on Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a leaked draft agreement, reported last week that the EU and US could enter into a formal dialogue on the Digital Markets Act following the trade deal – with US firms exempted from enforcement during those talks.
That prompted a strong denial from the Commission’s top US trade official, Matthias Jorgensen, who told MEPs this week that putting “the EU’s regulatory autonomy on the table” was “not an option for us”.
At this week’s G7 summit in Canada, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump agreed to find a solution to the trade spat before 9 July. Von der Leyen told EU leaders on Thursday that she had received the latest counterproposal from the US.
The UK agreed in May to accept the US’s 10% baseline tariff in return for exemptions from duties on cars and metals. The UK’s own digital services tax was not part of that agreement.