PARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – France said a U.S. decision to quit global talks on how to tax big digital firms such as Google (GOOG.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and Facebook (FB.O) was a “provocation” and the European Union said it could impose taxes even if no deal was reached by year-end.
FILE PHOTO: French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire addresses a press conference after the weekly cabinet meeting on June 10, 2020 in Paris, France. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The latest transatlantic trade row was ignited after the Washington said on Wednesday it was withdrawing from negotiations with European countries over new international tax rules on digital firms, saying talks had made no progress.
Nearly 140 countries are involved in the talks organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the first major rewrite of global tax rules in a generation to bring them up to date for the digital era.
The talks aim to reach a deal by the end of 2020, but that deadline is now slipping out of reach with Washington’s latest move and the U.S. presidential election in November.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said France, Britain, Italy and Spain had jointly responded on Thursday to a letter from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announcing the pullout.
“This letter is