Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

muriel_volestrangler

(104,004 posts)
8. The suggestion is that the Digital Services Tax on big tech companies will be slashed
Thu May 8, 2025, 09:16 AM
May 8

The tax was introduced in 2020 by the Conservatives, to try and stop Amazon, Meta etc. who are effectively making profits in the UK, from using accounting tricks to move the profit elsewhere - so that they pay almost no tax in the UK. Starmer and his government have repeatedly been asked if it's in the discussions, and he's never denied that.

So what Trump may be getting is money for big tech that has been supporting him. Plus, perhaps, The Open at his golf club - not in the gift of the government, of course, but they can put on pressure behind the scenes. Non-golfers might be happy for that to be the price, but I fear Trump may get both DST slashed and The Open.

Having written that, I now see a rumour that DST has been left unchanged - in which case Starmer has been negotiating properly, not kowtowing:

The terms are expected to be announced by US President Donald Trump at 3pm UK time, and will see an end to the 25 per cent tariff on steel and cars, in a boon to the UK auto industry which was worth about £9bn last year.

Negotiations on reducing the US-imposed 10 per cent tariffs across all sectors are expected to be continued in the near future.

And the UK is not expected to lower its 2 per cent digital services tax on US firms owned by billionaires like Trump aide Elon Musk – in another win for Starmer.

British farmers are likely to be pleased by the fact that there has been no UK concession on food standards imported from the US in the deal. This is also likely to be seen as a diplomatic win for the UK if the US has accepted even a narrow deal while dropping demands in this area.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/whats-really-in-uk-trump-trade-deal-3682727

So the details should be public in under an hour from now.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»I'm betting Trump is goin...»Reply #8