The letter mentions that, since 2020, the UK Digital Services Tax has collected over USD 3 billion, diverting economic profit from American innovators and workers to foreign coffers.
US Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas) led 21 of his colleagues in sending a letter to President Donald Trump on 16 September 2025, supporting his efforts to get rid of discriminatory Digital Services Taxes (DSTs), specifically focusing on the UK DST.
These taxes sponge economic profit away from American innovators and workers, resulting in American dollars being shifted into foreign coffers. Since 2020, more than USD 3 billion has been collected by the UK Digital Services Tax.
The full letter is below.
Dear President Trump,
We write to express our serious concerns regarding the United Kingdom’s discriminatory digital services tax (DST) and urge you to seek its removal as soon as possible. The UK’s DST collected USD 1 billion in 2024 alone, and an estimated USD 3.1 billion between 2021 and 2024, almost entirely from American companies. The UK itself has stated that 90% of the DST is paid by five companies, which the U.S. Trade Representative believes to all be American-owned companies. This discriminatory action undermines American innovation and captures the U.S. tax base.
We applaud you for your attention and action in combating discriminatory DSTs that target U.S. companies. We are deeply appreciative of your recent comments that digital taxes must end immediately and that “American Technology Companies are neither the ‘piggy bank’ nor the ‘doormat’ of the World any longer.” You have demonstrated a focus on eliminating these unfair trading practices from our partners,and you have delivered wins for American companies, most notably Canada’s commitment to withdraw its DST. Additionally, India also ended its DST and New Zealand withdrew its DST legislation in response to your resolve.
The UK’s insistence to maintain its DST contradicts its commitment to treat U.S. companies fairly, and if permitted to continue, will set a dangerous precedent for other countries, including those that continue to levy DSTs on U.S. companies or others, such as Poland and Slovakia, that are proposing new DSTs. It is therefore essential that the UK removes this tax promptly.
As you prepare for the upcoming U.S.-UK Leaders’ Summit, we urge you to prioritise securing a commitment that the UK will remove its DST. Should the UK fail to agree, we believe reopening the Section 301 investigation into the DST would be a necessary and appropriate action.
