The United States also poses a more advanced tariff threat than France’s $ 1.3 billion in imports of French champagne, cosmetics, handbags and other goods in retaliation for the digital tax.
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US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Friday that she was maintaining the threat of US tariffs on goods from Austria, Britain, India, Italy, Spain and Turkey in retaliation for her digital services taxes.
In a statement, Tai announced that his office would move forward with the move to impose a possible tariff, which includes filing public notices and collecting public comment, which was originally put forward by the Trump administration for US Internet companies and e-commerce platforms But is part of an investigation initiated into targeted taxes. .
Taxes target the in-country revenue of digital Facebook platforms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon.com.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced commitments for the Economic Cooperation and Development Organization (OECD) to pursue a global agreement on digital service taxes, despite renewed commitments from Democratic President Joe Biden.
Also read USTR abuses India, Italy, Turkey on digital taxes but prohibits tariffs
Tai also said that the USTR was ending a “Section 301” tariff investigation against Brazil, the Czech Republic, the European Union and Indonesia because these jurisdictions have not adopted or applied digital service taxes that were previously under consideration. If they adopt a digital service tax, the USTR said it could open a new tariff check.
The move is in the midst of the first negotiation strategy revealed by Tai since he took office last week. Tai said in his confirmation hearing in February that tariffs were a “legitimate tool” for US trade policy.
“The United States is committed to reaching an international consensus through the OECD process on international tax issues,” Tai said in a statement. “However, until such a consensus is formed, we will retain our options under the section 301 procedure, including the imposition of tariffs, if necessary.”
Also read Canada plans digital tax on global tech giants like Facebook, Google in 2022
The Internet Association, which represents major US Internet platforms, praised the move to keep the tariff threat alive against six countries, calling its industry a “great American export” that supports millions of jobs.
“Today’s move by the USTR is an important confirmation in reverting to these discriminatory trade barriers as the US continues to work to find a viable solution in the OECD,” the trade group said in a statement.
The United States also poses a more advanced tariff threat than France’s $ 1.3 billion in imports of French champagne, cosmetics, handbags and other goods in retaliation for the digital tax.
Like the French tax, USTR’s investigation of taxes adopted by Austria, Britain, India, Italy, Spain and Turkey found that they discriminated against US technology companies and were inconsistent with international tax norms.
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