Paris (AFP)

Washington threatens to overtax heavily a series of French products, including sparkling wines, cheeses and handbags, in response to the introduction in France of a tax on the digital giants - a decision that Paris deemed Tuesday "unacceptable ", hoping to hope for a European" strong response ".

Among the products that could be overtaxed by the United States, which weigh the equivalent of $ 2.4 billion, include many cheeses including Roquefort, yogurt, sparkling wine and cosmetics such as soap, water, makeup and lipsticks, or even handbags.

For the time being, the Trump administration seems to be sparing the traditional wine, one of the most emblematic tricolor export products, which is already suffering from US retaliation in another commercial dispute over European subsidies to Airbus.

The announcement of the US authorities, Monday late afternoon, follows an investigation opened last July by the US Trade Representative (USTR) concluding that the French legislation called "Gafa" (in reference to US giants Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) hurts US companies.

"The USTR is committed to fighting the growing protectionism of the EU member states, which unfairly target US companies," the representative said in a statement.

The USTR proposal, which is yet to be endorsed by US President Donald Trump, risks intensifying friction with the European Union (EU) and France in particular.

"The simple project, which could be applied within 30 days, new sanctions against France, it is unacceptable," thundered on Tuesday the French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire.

France has contacted the new European Commission to "ensure that if there should be new US sanctions, there would be a European response, a strong response," said the Mayor, while calling to "avoid entering into this logic of sanctions and responses".

- "Tax Justice" -

Monday, well before the US announcement, Bruno Le Maire had already warned that France would never "give up" its tax on the giants of the tech, and criticized the United States no longer wanting a large international agreement on digital taxation.

He pleaded again Tuesday for a global agreement, under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): "We are now waiting for the US response."

"We do not have to back down on a subject that makes economic sense, and that is tax justice," insisted the French Secretary of State for the Economy Agnès Pannier-Runacher, recalling that this tax "n not against US digital platforms "but also applies to French platforms

These new threats from Washington are unveiled just before a bilateral meeting between Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, scheduled for Tuesday in London at 14:00 GMT, as part of the NATO summit.

"The USTR report sends a clear signal to France, and warns other countries that are finalizing similar measures that discriminatory taxes will not be tolerated," responded Matt Schruers, executive director of the federation. the computer and communications industry.

In fact, the Trump administration also said Monday it plans to open a similar investigation against Austria, Italy and Turkey to determine if their taxes threaten US companies.

The imposition of punitive tariffs on French products can not, it, not intervene before mid-January, after a period of consultations to examine the possible requests for exemptions.

- Negotiations at the OECD -

The French tax Gafa imposes the digital giants to 3% of turnover in France, especially on targeted advertising online, the sale of data for advertising purposes and the linking of users by the platforms.

This solution is intended to be only temporary pending the outcome of international negotiations.

The G20 finance ministers, meeting in Washington in October, paved the way for crucial negotiations within the OECD, with the goal of reaching a global agreement by June on this issue, considered as a major challenge to adapt global taxation to the digitization of the economy.

© 2019 AFP