In the negotiations with the US, with the Trump-Macron phone call on Sunday and the dialogue between Le Maire himself and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, "we have refused any backtrack or suspension of the tax," explained Le Maire. "The French Parliament has voted for it and it remains in force. The alternative to a constructive compromise is the trade war. And once it is declared, it is very difficult to get out of it."
"We agree - he added - with the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for a common global framework. But if there is no agreement, France will not take a step back, and is ready to collect the tax on the digital activities of large companies. global businesses in December 2020 ".
On the web tax approach "I spoke this afternoon with the Italian Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri, and we are completely on the same line," said Le Maire, "it is up to Italy to decide."
"A 'digital tax' is discriminatory by its nature and international taxation is complicated. But if we want to impose a tax on our companies, we will consider taxes on car manufacturers." The US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this to a panel during the work of the World Economic Forum. "We will have private conversations on this issue, and the president (Donald Trump, ed) and Boris (Johnson, British prime minister, ed) will talk about it as well as with Macron."
"We plan to move forward with the digital services tax in April. It is proportionate and deliberately designed as a temporary tax until there is an international agreement," said British Exchequer Chancellor Sajid Javid during a panel at the World Economic Forum, the same Mnuchin was present at.
"Duties call duties, but we don't want them", but in any case "our initiative will live up to that of others". "But this is not the world we want." This was said by the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, commenting on the tensions on the web tax between the US and the EU. "Paying taxes is an act of justice, the Americans have also taught us that." Sassoli met Apple CEO Tim Cook in Davos.