WASHINGTON (US) – The US announced on Friday that it would impose additional duties of 25% on French cosmetics, handbags and other imports valued at $1.3 billion. This comes in response to France’s digital services tax. But Washington said it would halt the implementation of the new duties for up to 180 days.
According to the US Trade Representative’s office, delaying the implementation of additional duties would buy more time to resolve the issue through discussions in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). France had agreed to put on hold collecting 3% tax on digital services.
Washington imposed additional duties after a US Section 301 investigation found that French tax discriminates against American tech companies like Google, Facebook and Apple Inc.
Along with other countries, France has imposed digital services tax on big tech firms operating locally in order to raise revenue. The governments of France and other countries feel that such companies make huge profits from the local markets while contributing only a limited amount to the public coffers.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer first hinted at new tariffs on Thursday. The US has also undertaken similar probes of digital services tax implemented by ten other countries, including Turkey, India and the UK.
OECD discussions to find a solution for digital services tax have ended in a fiasco.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field