Trump/Cook, Nissan weakness, more tariffs and gold - what’s moving markets
Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to impose new tariffs and restrict technology exports on countries that target American technology firms with digital taxes or related regulations.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump accused foreign governments of discriminating against U.S. tech companies through digital services taxes and digital markets rules, while giving “a complete pass” to Chinese technology giants.
“With this TRUTH, I put all countries with digital taxes, legislation, rules, or regulations, on notice that unless these discriminatory actions are removed, I … will impose substantial additional tariffs on that country’s exports to the U.S.A., and institute export restrictions on our highly protected technology and chips,” Trump wrote.
The comments come as Washington faces renewed trade tensions with Europe, India, and other economies that have sought to impose levies on digital services. Trump has long criticised such taxes, arguing they unfairly single out U.S. firms such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
"Show respect to America and our amazing Tech Companies or, consider the consequences!" Trump added.
A Reuters report on Tuesday stated that Trump’s administration is weighing sanctions on European Union officials over the bloc’s Digital Services Act.
The potential measures, likely in the form of visa restrictions, reflect U.S. complaints that the law censors Americans and imposes costs on U.S. tech companies. Senior State Department officials have not finalized a decision, and it is unclear which officials could be targeted, the report said.