President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs and export restrictions on countries he sees as targeting American technology companies. On his platform Truth Social on Monday, Trump wrote: “Digital taxes, digital services laws, and digital market regulations are all designed to harm or discriminate against American technology.” Although Trump did not name specific countries, he likely referred to nations that have enacted laws regulating the digital world. For example, the European Union issued the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, which address competition and content management. The United Kingdom also imposes a tax on technology companies. The U.S. president warned that if what Washington considers “discriminatory measures” are not lifted, he will “impose significant additional customs duties” on products from those countries and restrict exports of American technologies and chips.

He added, “America and American technology companies are no longer the world’s +cash cow+ or +doormat+.” In June, Trump canceled trade talks with Canada in response to the digital services tax Ottawa was set to impose, which would have affected major American companies like Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta. Shortly after, Canada withdrew the planned tax on American tech companies. Since returning to the White House in January, the U.S. president has imposed tariffs on both U.S. trade partners and competitors, with different rates depending on countries and products. Trump has targeted sectors such as steel, aluminum, and automobiles with special tariffs. The Republican president has used tariffs as leverage to achieve various goals. This week, the U.S. is expected to begin doubling tariffs on Indian products due to India’s purchase of Russian oil, considered a key source of funding for the war effort in Ukraine.