The US will not begin free trade negotiations with the UK if the digital services tax, set to come into law in April 2020, is not scrapped, according to senior White House sources. The 2% levy on profits is aimed at US tech giants, including Amazon, Google, Facebook and Donald Trump, potentially generating an estimated £1.5bn ($1.8bn) over the next four years for the UK Treasury. US President Twitter threatened tariffs against France after it agreed to a similar 3% tax on digital firms.
The US will not begin free trade negotiations with the UK if the digital services tax, set to come into law in April 2020, is not scrapped, according to senior White House sources. The 2% levy on profits is aimed at US tech giants, including Amazon, Google, Facebook and Twitter, potentially generating an estimated £1.5bn ($1.8bn) over the next four years for the UK Treasury. US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs against France after it agreed to a similar 3% tax on digital firms.