Opinion: Where are the tariffs on US tech companies?
If US President Trump wants to tear down the global trade system, the EU must show strength, says Axel Kannenberg. By setting its sights on US big tech.
(Image: Anna Moneymaker/Shutterstock.com)
When it comes to tariffs, Donald Trump doesn't hesitate for long – he reaches for the flamethrower. And behaves like an 80s action hero on a vendetta who wants to see the global trading system burn. China has responded swiftly to Trump's bravado with tough countermeasures. And the EU, well, what is it actually doing? Is the peppery response still stuck in the fax?
On Monday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the offer of a free trade zone for industrial goods – and received the expected slap in the face from Trump. Reports are now circulating about a list of numerous goods on which the EU wants to impose tariffs, some from May, some from December – the EU states are to vote on this on Wednesday. The list includes Harley-Davidson motorcycles, boats, beef, soybeans, chewing gum, dental floss and peanut butter. These were chosen because they are produced in states that vote Republican or because they are iconic American products.
Trade imbalance? We have that too
Instead of slapdash symbolic tariffs on cowboy hats and cheese from a spray can, could we please aim where it really hurts? I mean the US tech companies, of course. Judging by the trail of slime that their CEOs have graciously drawn around their most divine magnificence, Donald I, you can count them among the supporters of the Republicans.
You don't have to look far for a massive trade imbalance, this time harming the EU, either. Operating systems, office software, cloud services, AI, social media, streaming, online retail and advertising – almost everywhere, the German and European digital space is ultimately dominated by US providers. Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Meta and Amazon alone made a profit of around 400 billion US dollars in 2024, which is almost equal to the German special fund for infrastructure. The threat of a kick in these crown jewels should certainly hit home.
The full package please
Last week, reports quoted a French government spokeswoman as saying that the EU also wanted to target services in its retaliatory measures – and that would also mean digital services. This is precisely what is needed now: a big package against Big Tech with tariffs, special taxes, restrictions on procurement and all the bureaucratic thumbscrews and nipple clamps that only the evil masterminds of the EU can concoct. Add a little introductory period ribbon around it and send it off to the White House with the best wishes of an economic area of almost 500 million people.
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That would be a sign of strength, which is apparently the only thing Trump respects. And it would create the necessary negotiating leverage. Anyone who comes down so hard can easily be negotiated down to a reasonable result. The dealmaker in the White House could even be celebrated by his MAGA crowd afterwards for the great things he has achieved.
(axk)
