Bessent Demands Europe Scrap ‘Unfair’ Regulatory Shakedown

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned European allies Tuesday that their digital services tax on American tech firms threatens broader trade relations and Western technological unity.

Europe’s rollout of tech regulation laws, like the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act have become a sticking point in wider transatlantic trade negotiations. American officials like Bessent argue such digital taxes unfairly burden U.S. firms and could undercut joint competition with China.

“We’re negotiating with a lot of different interests,” Bessent said at a White House press conference Tuesday. “Some of the European countries have put on an unfair digital service tax on our big internet provider — France and Italy — other counties, Germany and Poland, don’t have that. So we want to see that unfair tax of one of America’s great industries removed. It’s going to be a give and take. They have some internal matters to decide before they can engage in an external negotiation.”