Treasury’s Bessent Vows to Fight Foreign Digital-Services Taxes

U.S. Treasury Secretary Charlotte Bessent said the Biden administration is intensifying efforts to overturn digital-services taxes adopted by several foreign governments, calling the levies "unfair" and discriminatory against American technology companies. In a CNBC interview on Tuesday, Bessent said Washington is "pushing back on countries around the world" that have introduced or are considering the taxes, which target revenue earned by online platforms in jurisdictions where they have users but no physical presence. She did not specify which governments face new challenges but said the United States is prepared to use trade tools and multilateral forums to resolve the dispute. Bessent added that the disagreement over digital-services taxes "will not stand in the way" of broader diplomatic efforts, including talks aimed at securing a Ukraine peace agreement, suggesting the tariff fight will be managed separately from security negotiations.