Trump threatens 100% tariffs on EU tech taxes

President Trump threatened Friday to scrap a trade deal with the European Union and impose 100 percent tariffs on member states over their digital services taxes, a move that would directly strike at the EU's technology and data sectors. According to the New York Times, Trump claimed the tariffs would override the agreement European officials had just finalized, though it remained unclear how quickly he could enact such measures or whether Congress would support them.

The threat comes as European leaders, including Italy, are attempting to forge a unified defence and economic posture independent of Washington. The E5 group—Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Poland—coordinated this week on defence policy ahead of the NATO summit, but the EU's economic cohesion now faces a direct test from the US administration's unilateral trade pressure.

Italy, as the eurozone's third-largest economy and home to significant technology firms and digital services operations, faces material exposure to American tariff escalation. Rome has historically sought to balance transatlantic economic ties with EU solidarity, but Trump's threat to override a freshly-negotiated agreement signals a willingness to weaponize trade policy against the bloc as a whole.