The rule is not just for US citizens, but for a specific category called “US Person”, which is broader, and I think it includes anyone with any tie to the US. I believe having American parents, having had US citizenship even if you renounced it, or having had a greencard, also count. Though I don’t know the exact rules.

The rule is way too broad, and you can’t get rid of it. I’ve heard of people who’ve never set foot in the US who discovered later in life that they were US Persons, and it sucks. Their banks force them to comply because otherwise the bank can’t do business with the US.

I think you can usually deduct the taxes you pay elsewhere, but you will still have to file your taxes, which is apparently a rather painful process in the US.

Because otherwise none of their customers will be able to do business with the US. They would like their customers to be able to do business with the US, so their only options are to either follow reporting rules for US Persons, or avoid having US Persons as customer. It sucks, but it’s the US government forcing this on everybody, and because of the economic dominance of the US, the rest of the world has no choice but to comply.

This is not because anyone wants to discriminate against Americans (maybe they do, but it’s unrelated to this rule), but because of rules the US forces on the rest of the world. There are special tax reporting rules for US Persons that banks have to obey if they want to be able to do business with the US at all. If you can’t or don’t want to follow those special rules, avoiding having US Persons as customer is the easiest way to comply.

I’ve worked for several Dutch banks, and US Person is a special category they have to deal with. No other nationality has this. Maybe Ethiopia? But that’s easily ignored. But nobody ignores the US. They have no choice but to comply. Vote for a different tax code if you don’t like it.