President Donald Trump posted Monday that he would “stand up to countries that attack our incredible American tech companies,” in a shot across the bow of countries seeking to curb the influence of tech conglomerates like Apple (AAPL) , Meta (META) , Alphabet (GOOGL) , and others.
In his Truth Social post, Trump said:
“I put all Countries with Digital Taxes, Legislation, Rules, or Regulations, on notice that 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 U.S.A., and institute Export restrictions on our Highly Protected Technology and Chips.”
In his post, Trump promised additional tariffs and restrictions on advanced semiconductors for countries which target U.S. tech companies with targeted taxes, regulation, or other legislation.
The post comes months after countries, particularly ones in Europe, floated countermeasures against U.S. tariffs. Among them were options which took aim at U.S. service businesses and tech companies. Those retaliatory efforts have not materialized, though.
Trump's complaints likely have a lot to do with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which passed in 2018 and offered new rights for EU citizens online. The complaints also likely square on a newer piece of legislation by the EU, the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Passed nearly two years ago, the DMA is a landmark piece of legislation which aimed to curb the influence of so-called “gatekeepers,” namely tech giants. It mandates that countries open up their app stores, allow for data “portability” and “interoperability” and offers the EU Commission the right to fine tech giants for noncompliance.
The EU is also in the process of piecing together a new piece of legislation which takes aim at artificial intelligence (AI), the EU AI Act.
The post came just minutes after Trump posted to Truth Social that he removed Fed Governor Lisa Cook “for cause”, citing allegations of mortgage fraud.
Both pieces of news made an impact on futures markets, with U.S equities registering modest declines on the news. At the same time, Gold and the Cboe Volatility Index rose on the report.
