EU could tax big tech if Trump trade talks fail, Von der Leyen tells FT

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(Reuters) -The EU 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 on Thursday.

The EU would seek a completely balanced agreement with Washington during Trump’s 90-day pause in applying additional tariffs, the report added.

But she warned the bloc was ready to dramatically expand the transatlantic trade war to services if those talks failed, potentially including a tax on digital advertising revenues that would hit tech groups such as Meta and Alphabet’s Google.

She said Trump’s trade war had caused “a complete inflection point in global trade”. “It’s a turning point with the United States without any question,” she said, adding: “We will never go back any more to the status quo.”

She said the commission had previously attempted to negotiate with the U.S. but was told to wait until Trump’s April 2 announcement, which imposed a 20% tariff on the EU.

Addressing concerns about a global trade war, Von der Leyen said the EU would not allow Chinese products facing U.S. tariffs to flood European markets. She added that Brussels would implement protective measures if a new monitoring system detected an increase in Chinese imports.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar; Editing by Chris Reese and Lisa Shumaker)