The European Union is exploring ways to raise taxes on US tech giants such as Apple, Meta, and Google without provoking retaliation from Washington, the Financial Times has reported.
The discussions come as Brussels seeks to avoid a new trade confrontation with US President Donald Trump while raising revenue amid contentious negotiations over the bloc’s next long-term budget and spending pressures at home.
The European Commission is considering a broader corporate levy that would apply to all companies operating in the EU rather than explicitly targeting Big Tech, the FT reported on Wednesday, citing six officials familiar with the discussions.
”Some [EU] capitals are opposed to a pure digital tax because they don’t want to upset the Americans,” an EU official told the FT. “The solution is to expand [the tax] to cover pretty much all the big companies.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened trade retaliation over measures he says discriminate against American companies. In June, he warned that countries imposing digital services taxes on US firms could face 100% tariffs on their exports to the US. Washington has also clashed with Brussels over the EU’s Digital Markets Act, under which the Commission has imposed hefty fines on Google, Apple, and Meta.
The levy, known as the Corporate Resource for Europe (CORE), would require companies operating in the EU with annual revenue above €100 million ($112 million) to pay a fixed yearly contribution, raising an estimated €6.8 billion annually from 2028 to 2034. Officials are reportedly considering raising the threshold and contributions to focus the tax on the largest corporations.
CORE is one of five proposed revenue sources expected to collectively raise around €60 billion a year from 2028. The package requires unanimous approval from EU member states.
At the same time, the EU is moving to sharply increase military spending. Under its proposed €2 trillion budget for 2028-2034, the Commission wants to allocate €131 billion to defense, security and space – five times the amount under the current framework. Brussels has urged member states to rearm in response to what it describes as a growing threat from Russia, a claim Moscow has dismissed as “nonsense.”
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