The de-escalation is confirmed. In Davos, French and Americans found common ground on the sensitive issue of Gafa taxation (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple). The French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, assured Wednesday after an interview with his American counterpart, Steven Mnuchin, that Paris and Washington had found a "common global framework".

"France is ready to postpone the payment of its digital tax installments to December 2020" and the "United States is ready to suspend the sanctions" they threatened to take against French products during this time, he said. he declared on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. "France will not accept any withdrawal or suspension of its tax until there is an international solution," added the minister, refraining from bowing to American pressure.

"We still have to agree on (a) common basis of work" with the United States to advance negotiations within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), both for an international digital tax, and for minimum corporate taxation. Bruno Le Maire indicated that he was going to see his American counterpart on Thursday to discuss this "not insignificant" last point.

Europe "united as never before"

Despite the detente, the United States remains threatening vis-à-vis the European Union. Since Davos, President Donald Trump has toughened the tone, warning that he is ready to raise the tariffs on the automobile to 25% if no trade agreement is found in the coming months. "The digital tax is discriminatory in nature. If we want to impose taxes arbitrarily on our digital businesses, we will consider arbitrarily imposing taxes on automotive businesses," said Steven Mnuchin.

In the American viewfinder now: Italy, but also the United Kingdom. Bruno Le Maire nevertheless assured that Europe was "united as never" in this affair, rejecting the accusations of playing it alone while other European countries are carrying out their own digital taxation projects.

With AFP

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