France urges US to ‘come to its senses’ on digital tax
PTI, Jan 6, 2020, 4:41 PM IST
Paris: Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called Monday on the United States to not follow through on threats to impose sanctions on France in a dispute over taxation of tech giants and warned of retaliation.
“This trade war is in no one’s interest and I call on our American friends to display wisdom, to return to their senses,” Le Maire said on France Inter radio as the US government moves towards imposing sanctions.
President Donald Trump last month threatened to punish Paris for a new tax on tech giants such as Netflix and Amazon, unveiling sky-high retaliatory duties on $2.4 billion of French wines, makeup and leather handbags.
US trade officials are accepting written comments until Monday and on Tuesday are due to hold a public hearing to allow individuals and companies to comment on the punitive measures.
Le Maire issued a warning that it would respond if the tariffs are put into place. “If the Americans decide to go through with it, to put into place sanctions against the tech tax when they are for such a tax… in that case we will retaliate,” he said, adding he plans to speak with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin later in the day.
Le Maire also wrote to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to urge him to not impose sanctions on France.
“I insist that our tax is not discriminatory against US companies,” said the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
France last year approved a new levy on tech firms as international efforts dragged on to find a new model to tax their revenues earned via online sales in a country even if their physical headquarters are elsewhere.
Washington says that US companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have been singled out.
The Trump administration could impose duties of up to 100 per cent of the value of French imports including such emblematic goods as champagne and camembert
Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.
Top News
Related Articles More
Sensex reclaims 80k mark; Nifty surges over 1% after BJP-led Mahayuti’s win in Maharashtra
Rapid digital expansion to create over 1 lakh new jobs in fiber tech in India in next 5 years
Choose correct ITR to report foreign assets; 2 lakh such returns filed: CBDT official
Air India Express increases flight operations from northeast destinations
Mcap of 8 of top-10 most-valued domestic firms jumps Rs 1.55 lakh cr; HDFC Bank, TCS sparkle
MUST WATCH
Latest Additions
Wanted to kill Ajmal Kasab who caused so much of pain, recalls 26/11 terror attack victim
Two retired revenue officials among four arrested in land grabbing case in Jammu
Kerala govt to revise manual for junior doctors, house surgeons
State can interfere with religious practices if they impede development, equality rights: SC
Four cheers at MP’s Kuno park; cheetah Neerva gives birth to cub quartet
Thanks for visiting Udayavani
You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.