WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said the ‌United States will retaliate ‌with a “big tariff” if Britain continues to ​target companies like Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Meta with its technology tax.

The United Kingdom rolled ‌out its 2% ⁠digital services tax in 2020, a move that ⁠has been criticized by Trump and his predecessor Democrat Joe ​Biden.

“If they ​don’t drop ​the tax, we’ll ‌probably put a big tariff on the UK,” the president told reporters during a White House event.

His comments come ahead of ‌a visit by Britain’s ​head of state, ​King ​Charles, next week.

Trump said ‌he believes the monarch ​could help ​repair the Washington’s relationship with the British, which has ​become strained ‌in recent months.

(Reporting by Jasper ​Ward in Washington; Editing ​by Chris Sanders)