Washington, August 29, 2025 – In a private White House meeting late last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg lobbied U.S. President Donald Trump to press foreign nations to repeal their digital service taxes, according to Bloomberg News reports.
Zuckerberg’s plea came just days before Trump issued a stern warning: countries enforcing such levies could face “additional tariffs” on their exports to the U.S. unless the taxes are rolled back. The administration’s stance also reportedly includes exploring sanctions on EU officials involved in formulating the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), accusing the legislation of imposing unfair compliance costs on U.S. tech firms and infringing on free expression.
The digital tax debate represents a long-standing fault line in trade relations, especially between the U.S. and European countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and the UK. These governments have adopted levies targeting revenue generated by digital service providers—including giants like Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon.
The Trump administration sees these taxes as protectionist measures. It has described them as discriminatory against American tech firms, while the European Commission asserts that its digital regulations, including both the DSA and the broader Digital Markets Act (DMA), are neutral and apply equally to all platforms—pointing to enforcement actions against Chinese platforms such as AliExpress, Temu, and TikTok to refute claims of U.S.-targeted bias.
Meta’s aggressive outreach coincides with the company’s continued financial strength. In July, Meta reported $47.52 billion in quarterly revenue, significantly surpassing Wall Street expectations of approximately $44.80 billion.
