Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday that the threat of US retaliation on French wine exports "is getting further" after the agreement reached at the G7 summit in Biarritz on the taxation of digital giants

"Before Biarritz, the threat was real, that is to say, we were on the verge of having a tax on French wines," said the minister, interviewed on LCI on the terms of the agreement found Monday in the French seaside resort.

"After Biarritz, the threat is moving away, it is not definitively ruled out, but it is moving away, and it will obviously depend on the work we are going to do in the coming days with my American counterpart," the minister added. .

Macron announces an agreement with Trump

President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that an agreement had been reached with his counterpart Donald Trump on the taxation of "Gafa" (acronym for giants Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple), in the heart of a showdown between Paris and Washington.

With this agreement, "we have pacified things," assured the head of state Monday night on France 2, saying the threats of reprisal were "no longer on the agenda." "Now we have to find this agreement on international taxation," he added.

Under the compromise made by Paris and Washington, France has committed to abandon its tax, which comes into effect this year, as soon as an international solution has been found under the auspices of the OECD.

"We will substitute the international tax for the national tax"

"We will not wait for ratification by all member states of the OECD: we will replace the international tax with the national tax as soon as it is adopted by the OECD," assured Bruno Mayor, hoping a adoption in the spring of 2020.

"If ever the companies that have paid the national tax have paid too much in relation to the international tax, well they will receive a (tax) credit for the amount of this overpayment," the minister said.

A "big mistake"

Definitively adopted on July 11, the "Gafa tax", which comes into force in France this year, provoked strong reactions on the American side. An adviser to Donald Trump spoke of "big mistake", while the US President raised a 100% tax on French wine in retaliation.

Asked at the end of the G7 whether the United States would give up the reprisals, Donald Trump remained evasive, simply declaring that his wife, Melania Trump, liked "French wine."