Trump demands end to tax on big techs and threatens France

The White House leader referred to the 3% tax charged on Silicon Valley companies operating in the country. If France ignores demand, Trump said the French wine industry would suffer “devastating” consequences on the American market, which currently accounts for a fifth of the sector’s global sales.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacted this Monday to Trump’s statements, saying that he will not give in to the demand to abolish the tax on digital services and indicated that he will maintain a “respectful but firm” discussion with him on the matter.

“The tax on digital services was decided by Europeans, several countries have implemented it and it is part of our rights. The US does not decide on the rights of Europeans or the French”, emphasized Macron in an interview with the French television channel TF1, in Évian, a few hours before receiving Trump at the start of the G7 summit.

Macron recalled that the Europeans reached a tariff agreement with the US last summer, after months of negotiations, following the start of Trump’s trade war, implying that the issue has been resolved.

“What we need now is stability”, he stated, before adding that it was clear that “tariffs are not good for anyone”, not for the productive sectors of the countries that have to pay them to export, nor for the USA, because “they do not solve their trade problems and increase certain prices”.

France was a pioneer in Europe with the digital services tax, which came into force in 2019 with a 3% tax on advertising, platform services and data sales linked to French territory.