In an interview with Stern on Thursday, Germany’s Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer said he is seeking talks with these companies, while accusing them of “cunning tax evasion.”

Germany is reportedly considering a 10% tax on large online platforms like Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google and Meta Platforms Inc. (META), among others.

According to a report by Reuters, citing German publication Stern, Germany’s Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer is drafting a proposal that aims at companies with a large part of their business online.

Alphabet’s Class A shares were down 0.40% at the time of writing, while Meta’s shares were up 0.13%.

In an interview with Stern on Thursday, Weimer said he is seeking talks with these companies, while accusing them of “cunning tax evasion.”

"These corporations do billions in business in Germany with extremely high profit margins and benefit enormously from the country’s media and cultural output as well as its infrastructure — but they pay hardly any taxes, invest too little, and give far too little back to society,” he said.

Weimer added that he considers the proposed 10% tax rate “moderate and legitimate.”

The digital tax proposal comes ahead of an expected visit by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to the U.S.–if President Trump views this move as discriminatory against U.S. companies, it could make trade negotiations complex for Germany.

Trump has in the past criticized countries rolling out digital taxes, which impact U.S. companies more due to the sheer presence of firms like Google, Meta, and others.

Earlier in February, Trump told the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to revive investigations into countries imposing digital taxes.

"President Trump will not allow foreign governments to appropriate America's tax base for their own benefit," a White House official said at the time.

Alphabet’s Class A stock is down 9.28% year-to-date, while Meta’s stock is up 9.89%.

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