European Union considers taxing Meta, Google in response to Trump tariffs

The European Union is prepared to deploy its most powerful trade measures and may impose levies on U.S. digital companies if negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump fail, EU President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times recently.

According to the report, the EU aims to strike a fully balanced agreement with Washington during Trump’s 90-day pause on further tariff hikes. However, von der Leyen cautioned that if negotiations collapse, the EU is prepared to widen the trade conflict into the services sector—potentially targeting digital advertising revenues, a move that would directly impact tech giants like Meta and Alphabet's Google

Trump’s trade war, she said, has marked “a complete inflection point in global trade.” “It’s a turning point with the United States without any question,” von der Leyen added. “We will never go back any more to the status quo.”

She also noted that previous efforts by the Commission to engage with the U.S. were met with delays, as officials were told to wait until Trump’s April 2 decision, which imposed a 20% tariff on EU goods.

Meanwhile, showing an accommodative stance to the US, the Indian government recently proposed to abolish the Equalisation Levy or digital tax on online advertisements from April 1, a move that will benefit advertisers on digital platforms including Google, X and Meta.