The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, warned that as part of the trade war with the United States, she is ready to introduce a tax on digital advertising revenues, which will hit American corporations Meta* and Google, the Financial Times reported following an interview with the head of the EC.
"The president of the European Commission has warned that she is ready to significantly expand the transatlantic trade war to the services sector if negotiations (with the United States) fail, including the potential introduction of a tax on digital advertising revenues that will hit technology groups such as Meta, Google and Facebook," the newspaper writes.
According to von der Leyen, "there is a wide range of countermeasures in case negotiations with the United States turn out to be unsatisfactory." The head of the EC also said that the European Union would "not tolerate" the redirection of Chinese goods affected by US duties to Europe, adding that Brussels would "take precautionary measures" if the new monitoring mechanism revealed an increase in Chinese imports.
According to her, the trade policy of US President Donald Trump has radically changed global trade relations and pushed The EU is ready to negotiate with countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and the UAE.
Earlier, von der Leyen said that the EU is ready to negotiate with the United States on duties, "it's not too late to agree." However, she promised to take retaliatory measures. At a meeting on Wednesday, the permanent Representatives of the EU member states approved their tariffs. Additional fees will be charged from April 15. Other details have not yet been disclosed.
The media reported that the new EU measures against the United States provide for the introduction of duties in the amount of 10 to 25% on agricultural products, in particular, tobacco and poultry meat, as well as motorcycles, steel and aluminum. This may affect US exports to countries The EU for a total of 21 billion euros.
*Extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation
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