US President Donald Trump during a health care affordability event in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, April 23, 2026 in Washington, DC, US.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | getty images
US President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to Britain, threatening to impose heavy tariffs on the country unless it removes its digital services tax on American technology companies.
The tax, which was first introduced in 2020, is a 2% levy on the revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces that receive value from UK users. This includes many American companies such as alphabetof Google, meta And Apple.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump criticized those who he said were looking to make “easy money” by targeting American companies.
“We’re looking at it, and we could do it very easily by imposing big tariffs on the UK, so they better be careful,” Trump said.
“If they don’t remove the taxes, we’ll probably put big tariffs on Britain,” he said, without giving any specific figures.
CNBC has contacted the UK Department of Business and Trade and is awaiting a response.
Britain’s ruling Labor government has previously defended the tax, which it sees as an important fiscal measure. increased revenue Around £800 million ($1.08 billion) in the 2024–2025 financial year.
The measure remained unchanged when the US and Britain agreed a trade deal in May last year, although Trump told Sky News earlier in the month that the terms of the agreement “can always be changed”
Trump’s comments follow a series of publicly critical comments about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in recent weeks, reigniting trans-Atlantic trade tensions ahead of a four-day US state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
The king and queen are scheduled to visit the United States on Monday and are expected to meet Trump at the White House.