7/26/2019

FRANCE/TECHNOLOGY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump warned France on Friday [7-26-19] that it will shortly face retaliation over its decision to adopt a digital services tax, which the United States believes will disproportionately hit American tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google…Trump expounded on his frustration with the tax at a press opportunity this afternoon in the Oval Office: ‘I told them. I said, ‘Don’t do it, because if you do it, I’m going to tax your wine — tariff or tax, call it whatever you want.’ French President Emmanuel Macron signed the digital services tax into law this week. It targets companies with at least €750 million ($834 million) in global revenue and digital sales of €25 million in France from certain digital activities, such as targeted advertising and providing platforms to connect buyers and sellers…The French action demonstrates ‘lack of commitment’ to the ongoing negotiations on the digital tax issue within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, White House spokesperson Judd Deere said earlier in the day.”

Doug Palmer, “Trump vows to retaliate over France’s digital services tax,” Politico, July 26, 2019 2:11 pm