France singles out digital services for EU’s tariff response

Paris: Services will be part of the EU’s tariff response, the French government’s spokesperson said, name-dropping Big Tech.

French government spokesperson Sophie Primas said France is “ready for this trade war” and that, after reacting to aluminum and steel tariffs, a second EU response will “probably” be ready at the end of April, in an interview with RTL radio, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced 20% EU tariff.

“The second response will cover all products, and I want to stress this—services will be included,” Primas said, before listing “digital services, including those provided by the GAFAM,” as examples.

GAFAM refers to Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft. In February, Trump threatened retaliatory tariffs to European digital services taxes and EU enforcement of laws that disproportionally targets American companies.

Primas indicated the EU is ready to use its “anti-coercion measures” against the US and restrict “access to public markets.”

Germany may support France’s proposal to tax Big Tech’s digital services as part of the EU’s retaliatory tariffs.”

Everything is on the table and will remain on the table,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said during a press conference on potential retaliation against tech companies’ in Berlin.

Commission officials on Thursday repeatedly refused to rule out retaliating against US services exports to the EU. “I can only say we have many possible responses, and we’re not taking anything off the table today,” said a senior Commission official.

Another official similarly noted that “all options are on the table” when asked whether the EU could retaliate against US services exports. Such measures could include trade barriers against US tech or financial services, the officials added.

The EU ran a deficit in services with the US of €108.6 billion in 2023, according to Commission data. However, it ran a surplus in goods of €198.2 billion in 2024.

The Commission said yesterday it would respond to the reciprocal duties and Trump’s separate 25% tariff on automobiles – which came into effect today – at the same time. It refused to provide a definitive date for when this response would come, although one official suggested it would likely be before mid-May.

The Commission also said on Thursday that it would retaliate against the 25% steel and aluminium duties, which came into force last month, on April 15 – two days later than previously planned.

A Commission official attributed the delay to the fact that the original April 13 date falls on a weekend. They also said it would provide more time for negotiations with Washington.

EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said on Thursday that he will speak with his US counterparts tomorrow.

“We’ll act in a calm, carefully phased, unified way, as we calibrate our response, while allowing adequate time for talks,” he said. “But we won’t stand idly by, should we be unable to reach a fair deal.”