Meta's Zuckerberg pressed Trump on digital taxes before tariff threat, Bloomberg News reports


FILE PHOTO: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg presents Orion AR glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo

(Reuters) -Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg had visited U.S. President Donald Trump last week to discuss the threat of digital service taxes, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the private meeting.

Days after the meeting, Trump threatened countries that have digital taxes with "subsequent additional tariffs" on their goods if those nations do not remove such legislation.

Meta and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the report.

Trump's administration is considering imposing sanctions on the EU or member state officials responsible for the Digital Services Act, over complaints that it censors Americans and imposes costs on U.S. tech firms, Reuters reported on Monday.

Many countries, particularly in Europe, have levied taxes on the sales revenue of digital service providers, including Alphabet's Google, Meta, Apple and Amazon.

The issue has been a longstanding trade irritant for multiple U.S. administrations.

The majority of Meta's revenue comes from its core advertising business. The company in July reported revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter ended June 30, surpassing analysts' average estimate of $44.80 billion.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In Tech News

Man jailed in UK for encouraging US suicide via Discord chat platform
Sam Bankman-Fried loses bid to overturn crypto fraud conviction
Meta's social networks recover after brief outage
Exclusive-South Korea's SK Hynix to opt for Nasdaq for planned US listing, sources say
Ukraine's defence AI chief predicts 'new paradigm' of warfare
Canada's move to rein in AI chatbots, spurred by school shooting, faces doubts over loopholes
How Musk's tactics left investors clamoring for SpaceX stock and ignoring risks
Exclusive-U.S. bank regulators ramp up scrutiny of AI use at financial companies
SpaceX leveraged fund providers hit by day-one launch setback, sources say
Meta secretly integrated facial recognition software with smart glasses, report says

Others Also Read