President Trump warned he could impose new tariffs and export limits on advanced technology and semiconductors in response to digital service taxes in other countries that he says unfairly target American tech firms.
In a post to Truth Social late Monday, Trump argued the taxes are meant to hurt US companies while letting China’s biggest tech players off the hook.
“As the President of the United States, I will stand up to Countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies,” Trump wrote.
Trump did not specify any countries in his post, but the European Union has employed various taxes and regulatory methods that Trump has said unfairly targets US tech giants. The EU defended its use of the measures on Tuesday.
“It’s the sovereign right of the EU and its member states to regulate our economic activities on our territory,” a spokeswoman said.
The new drama comes after the US and the EU established a written framework for the trade deal agreed to in late July.
Also on Monday, Trump said a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea will hold despite President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Washington, D.C. The two countries struck a trade deal in July, allowing South Korea to avoid a stiffer 25% tariff, but tensions over the agreement have persisted, Bloomberg reported.
Last week, Trump said that the US is investigating furniture imports and will impose a tariff on the products once the probe is complete.
Meanwhile, US tariffs on imports from India are set to double to 50% on Wednesday, with no indications that the countries are moving toward any kind of deal.
Also last week, Canada vowed to drop its retaliatory tariffs to match US tariff exemptions for goods covered under the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact.
Earlier this month, Trump unveiled “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of US trade partners (which you can see in the graphic below).
Those tariffs face legal limbo in an appeals court case that could be decided within days.
Justice Department lawyers and lawyers for a group of small business importers who are challenging the tariffs imposed under this authority argued their positions before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. If the court rules against the government, it’s likely Trump would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Read more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world.
LIVE 1748 updates
Both China and Canada are gearing up to meet the US for discussions around trade and tariffs.
China said they will be sending a top negotiator to the US, a sign of progress after President Trump extended the tariff truce earlier this month.
But there is concern around the pace of talks between the two countries.
“Given the lack of progress in bilateral relations — not just in trade and economic areas but in other areas as well — both sides should work much harder if they want to turn this event a successful one,” Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai said.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc, will visit Washington to meet Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shortly after Canada agreed to lift most of its retaliatory tariffs on US goods.
“We are looking, I hope, for an agreement that will put us in a better position than we are right now,” LeBlanc said Monday in a French-language radio interview on Canada’s public broadcaster.
Both China and Canada have yet to agree on a formal trade arrangement with the US. However, with both sides set to meet in the coming days, a trade agreement may not be too far away.
TORONTO (AP) — Canada is dropping retaliatory tariffs to match U.S. tariff exemptions for goods covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact, a government official familiar with the matter said Friday.