Trump warns of ‘big tariff’ if UK doesn’t drop digital services tax on U.S. tech firms

trump threatened the uk with a "big tariff" if it doesn't scrap its digital services tax on us tech firms. he spoke from the oval office on thursday, saying the us could "meet that very easily" with a tariff. he didn't give a specific number. the tax is a 2% levy on revenue from search engines, social media, and online marketplaces that use uk users. it hit google, meta, and apple. the uk introduced it in 2020 and it raised about £800 million ($1.08 billion) in the 2024-2025 financial year. the labour government has defended it as an important fiscal measure. trump's warning comes after weeks of critical remarks about pm keir starmer. it also lands just before king charles iii and queen camilla start a four-day us state visit on monday, with a white house meeting scheduled. the tax was left unchanged in the may 2024 us-uk trade deal, but trump told sky news earlier this month that terms "can always be changed."