France and Italy today doubled down on digital taxation today after the U.S. threatened to impose tariffs on countries moving forward with levies that target American tech companies.
“I want to be very clear: We will not back down on the overhaul of the international tax system. We will keep taxing tech giants, be it with an international levy — which is what we want — or a national one,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said after a call with his G7 counterparts.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced the launch of trade investigations that could lead to tariffs on countries in Europe, Asia and South America if they adopt digital taxes that Washington claims are unfairly aimed at U.S. tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple.
Negotiations are currently ongoing at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) but Paris, which has already adopted its own national levy, warned it would keep enforcing it if no agreement is reached by the end of the year.
“The question I’m asking our American friends is: Do we want a multiplication of national taxes, that will create fiscal confusion and penalize everyone, or do we one one and only international, fair and efficient tax,” Le Maire added.
Italy’s Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said: “Their digital tax is the right answer to the question of fairness and equal tax treatment between traditional and digital businesses, the only ones that have not suffered the tremendous impact of the crisis.”
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