As a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, I have been adamantly opposed to digital services taxes, which I believe undermine American prosperity as well as the principles of democracy and self-determination. It has become clear that these discriminatory levies are being used to pad foreign budgets at the expense of US workers and companies.
For decades, foreign bureaucrats at the OECD have pushed an unworkable Pillar One, which supposedly dealt with DSTs. In February 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive action opposing DSTs and directing the Treasury Department and the US Trade Representative to investigate treaty violations, extraterritorial taxes, and discriminatory taxes targeting of US-based companies.
A clear and coordinated message has already produced results. Canada and India repealed their DSTs in 2025. The US Trade Representative has now locked ironclad commitments to refrain from digital services taxes that discriminate against US companies from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, El Salvador, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Ecuador, Guatemala, Argentina, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
These are America First victories that protect our companies and our tax base.
Yet the fight is far from over. France and the UK still impose some of the world’s most punitive DSTs on US firms. In April, we learned that the UK collected nearly $1.3 billion in DSTs from mostly American companies in 2025-2026—a 17% increase from what was collected the previous year. France considered hiking its rate to as much as 15% to plug budget holes, but the French National Assembly voted against the proposed increase
Through letters I helped lead, Ways and Means Committee pressure, and the Trump administration’s backing, we pressured France to block that increase. However, France’s 3% gross-revenue tax remains in place, siphoning billions from American innovators.
US firms currently pay $2.96 billion annually in DSTs, according to a report released this year from the Tholos Foundation, an economic think tank, and Americans for Tax Reform. By 2030, that figure could reach nearly $6 billion; under broader adoption, it could be as high as $9.6 billion. Over the next decade, the cumulative cost could hit $117 billion.
These aren’t abstract numbers. They’re profits stripped from US companies, costs passed on to American consumers and small businesses through higher prices, and tax revenue lost from the US Treasury. DSTs violate every constitutional principle of taxation: They tax what foreign governments don’t protect, impose burdens without representation, apply only to a narrow class of (mostly US) firms, and assert taxing rights based on mere user clicks rather than production or presence.
The sheer scale of this collection is a clear sign that strong action is necessary to defend American interests. We can’t sit idly by while other countries treat US intellectual property as a revenue grab to fund their bloated budgets. The proliferation of DSTs only strengthens the case for the Trump administration to use all available tools, including Section 301 tariffs, to defend US interests and ensure a level playing field.
The old assumptions that reallocated US profits to foreign governments no longer hold. Further DST discussions should stress the importance of “first principles” when it comes to digital taxation: legal certainty, no double taxation, and a preference of net basis taxation over gross basis taxation.
It is incumbent on those countries proposing to radically revise more than 100 years of international tax norms to explain in detail how their position aligns with tax treaties and established legal precedents. These principles must form the foundation of any future discussions with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and our other global partners.
US companies built the technologies that connect the world. They aren’t a piggy bank for foreign treasuries. With Trump’s leadership and the clear evidence before us, Congress and the Trump administration will keep fighting until every discriminatory digital services tax around the world is repealed. American prosperity and constitutional principles demand nothing less.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.
Author Information
Ron Estes (R) represents Kansas’ 4th Congressional District and serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, Budget Committee and Joint Economic Committee.
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