New thrust of Donald Trump against theXNUMX-XNUMX business days, this time moving against digital services: And as he has often done, the US president adopts a encirclement strategy: on the one hand threatening sanctions, on the other insinuating the theme of censorshipTrump's central goal is to undermine the Digital Services Act European which the EU instead wants to defend tooth and nail.
Trump's Threat to Digital Services Taxes
Trump wrote on social media yesterday that he intends to retaliate against taxes on digital services of nations that hit the American technology companies and that it could do so by imposing new duties and retaliatory export restrictions on advanced technologies and semiconductors. “They are all designed to harm or discriminate against American technology,” Trump wrote, and “outrageously give China’s largest technology companies a green light.” “This must end, and end NOW!” Trump wrote, without naming any countries. “Unless these discriminatory actions are removed, I, as President of the United States, will impose substantial additional tariffs on that country’s exports to the United States and institute export restrictions on our highly protected technology and chips.”
Trump has long argued that the digital services taxes discriminate against US tech giants like Amazon.com Inc., A Inc., owner of Google, and Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of FacebookThe United States has increasingly imposed restrictions on the export of technologies, including advanced chips from companies such as Nvidia Corp. for artificial intelligence, which they deem essential to national or economic security.
The president's warning comes a week after United States and European Union agreed in a joint statement that they would "jointly address unjustified trade barriers" and "not impose customs duties on electronic transmissions." The 27-member bloc also confirmed that would not have adopted tariffs for network useHowever, the EU has also reiterated at other times that it has not committed to changing EU digital regulations, potentially leaving the issue intact as leverage for future trade negotiations that are still open. “We have made clear to the United States that changes to our digital regulations, the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, were not on the table,” the EU said in a briefing note.
At the beginning of summer, the Canada abandoned plans to impose a digital tax hours before it was due to take effect, after Trump suspended trade talks with the country over what he called an "excessive" tax. Other countries, including the UK, They have not yet repealed the 2% tax on revenues from search engines, social media services, and online marketplaces.
Meanwhile the OECD (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development which brings together 38 countries in the world) is working on a agreement cHe would abolish digital taxes in favor of an international pact on how to allocate multinational profits for tax purposes. But this effort could also spark opposition from the United States, which could lose its taxing rights.
Trump's two-pronged attack on the Digital Services Act: "It's censoring the U.S."
But Trump, as he has often done in other sectors, attacks the issue of EU regulation on digital services also insinuating the theme of censorshipThe Trump administration has tasked some US diplomats with launching a lobbying campaign in Europe to create opposition al Digital Services Act, in an attempt to do so to modify or repeal, he reports Reuters, citing an internal State Department document. DSA of the EU has the objective make the online environment safer, in part by forcing tech giants to do more to combat illegal content, including hate speech and child pornography. Washington argues that these EU actions constitute "undue" restrictions on freedom of expression. The document was filed yesterday in a Texas court.
Already last May, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio had threatened to ban the visa to those who they “censor” American speech, including on social media, and had suggested that the policy could target foreign officials who regulate U.S. technology companies. “We are monitoring with great concern the growing censorship in Europe, but we have no further information to provide at this time,” the spokesperson said in an email.
A spokesman for the European Commission declined to comment on possible sanctions, but had previously called them accusations of censorship on the part of the United States "completely unfounded“Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in the EU. It is at the heart of the DSA,” the spokesperson said. “It defines the rules that online intermediaries must respect to combat illegal content, while safeguarding freedom of expression and information online.”
Trump officials have denounced what they call a crackdown on right-wing leaders, including those of Romania, Germany and France, and they accused the European authorities to censor opinions such as criticism of immigration. In March, EU antitrust and technology officials told US lawmakers that the new technology rule aims to keep digital markets open and is not aimed at US companies.
