Paris (AFP)

France and the United States have given themselves 15 days to reach a compromise at the OECD on digital taxation that would ease tensions between the two countries, provided that Washington does not sanction French products by then.

After a "long interview" by phone the day before with his American counterpart, Steven Mnuchin, the French Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, expressed on Tuesday his desire to relaunch negotiations with the United States within the Organization for Cooperation and economic development (OECD) on digital taxation.

"We have agreed to redouble our efforts in the coming days to try to find a compromise on digital taxation within the framework of the OECD," said the minister during a press point in Bercy, with the commissioner. European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan, whom he had met moments before.

"We have given ourselves exactly 15 days, until our next interview which is scheduled on the sidelines" of the Davos Economic Forum which is held from January 21 to 24 in the Swiss alpine resort, he said.

The Trump administration is threatening to tax French products in retaliation for the digital tax.

In this regard, Mr. Le Maire hoped that "in this period of discussion France will not be hit by American sanctions", in order to move forward within the OECD to find a global agreement on digital taxation which would replace the French.

"If there were to be American sanctions (...), we would take the case to the WTO and we would be ready to react," warned Le Maire. "We therefore believe that the draft American sanctions against French digital taxation are at the same time unfriendly, inappropriate and illegitimate," he warned, reaffirming that French tax was not discriminatory as the authorities claim. US.

- European support

European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan reiterated Brussels' support for France before going to Washington next week, January 14-16, to speak with Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative .

"We are open to all possibilities", he assured, before a public meeting to be held by Mr. Lighthizer Tuesday in Washington at the end of the consultation period opened a month ago in the United States to analyze the impact of the French tax and propose reprisals.

"The European Commission will stand alongside France and all the other member states that wish to have the sovereign right to impose digital taxation on businesses in a fair manner," said the commissioner.

Mr. Lighthizer received until Monday evening written comments from individuals and professionals and holds a public meeting Tuesday to examine requests for exemptions from new taxes, while France has already been affected since October - like other European countries - by punitive taxes decreed by Washington in response to the subsidies granted to Airbus.

xA year ago, the United States relaunched negotiations on digital taxation within the OECD, which it had blocked for several years, but in December they set conditions rejected by France, leaving the plan doubt about the possibility of finding a global agreement before the end of 2020.

The Trump administration threatened a month ago to overtax "up to 100%" the equivalent of $ 2.4 billion in French products. Champagne, several types of dairy products including the emblematic Roquefort, leather handbags, cosmetics, porcelain dishes or even cast iron kitchen items, such as casseroles made in particular by French companies, would be affected. Creuset and Staub.

The French tax imposes digital giants up to 3% of turnover made in France.

© 2020 AFP