DNA
\nWASHINGTON
\nThe United States on Friday unveiled heavy import duties on France in retaliation for the country\u2019s tax on American tech giants, but will hold off on collecting the fees to allow time for the dispute to be resolved.
\nThe office of US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer found France\u2019s digital services tax was discriminatory and \u201cunfairly targets US digital technology companies,\u201d and will impose 25 percent punitive duties on $1.3 billion in French products.
\nHowever, it will suspend the tariffs until January 6, 2021 while discussions continue over the disagreement. France approved the tax last summer on tech firms like Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google, which were accused of moving their profits offshore to evade taxes.
\nBut in January, Paris suspended collection of the tax through the end of the year. French cosmetics and handbags will be subject to the US tariffs, but champagne, camembert and Roquefort were spared, according to the final product list after USTR collected thousands of public comments on the retaliation plans.
\nThe sides have been trying to a negotiate a deal through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that would address the policy dilemma of taxing profits earned in one country by a company based in another with a more favorable tax policy.
\nBut the talks have not made much headway and were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, more countries are considering following France\u2019s example.
\nLighthizer said Thursday that the US \u201cwon\u2019t tolerate\u201d unfair treatment, although he acknowledged that there is a problem with multinational corporations offshoring profits to avoid paying taxes.
\nBut he said the French tax \u201cdidn\u2019t even do a clever job of veiling the fact that they were just trying to get into the pocket of US companies.\u201d A USTR investigation in January ruled the tax was \u201cunreasonable\u201d and threatened 100 percent duties on a potential list of $2.4 billion in French goods.
\nVitor Gaspar, head of the IMF\u2019s fiscal affairs department, told media on Friday that there is \u201ca perception that firms that are extremely profitable, that act in the global sphere, are not paying their fair share of taxation,\u201d and called for an international agreement.
\nA \u201ccooperative approach is in the best interest of everybody,\u201d he said, noting it would be \u201ca signal of the capacity of the global community to work together if a deal on international corporate taxation would be struck.\u201d
\nMatt Schruers, the president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, welcomed the US move. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to avoid trade wars, it\u2019s very important to avoid tax wars,\u201d Gaspar said in an interview.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s action sends a strong message that discriminatory taxes aimed at US companies are not a path to modernizing the global tax system,\u201d Schruers said in a statement. \u201cChanges to international tax rules must be negotiated in good faith through a consensus-based approach at the OECD that addresses the changes of the digitalized global economy.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DNA WASHINGTON The United States on Friday unveiled heavy import duties on France in retaliation for the country\u2019s tax on American tech giants, but will hold off on collecting the fees to allow time for the dispute to be resolved. The office of US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer found France\u2019s digital services tax was discriminatory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-131809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n