Champagne, leather goods and Roquefort soon to be twice as expensive in the United States? Washington has threatened to overtax iconic products in retaliation for the French digital tax, but presidents Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron have ensured that the dispute can be resolved through dialogue.
"We have a minor dispute" and "We will probably be able to overcome it"said Donald Trump during a meeting in London with his French counterpart on the sidelines of the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). "I think with President Trump we can fix this situation", said Emmanuel Macron.
The "Minor dispute", it is in this case 2.4 billion dollars of French products that the United States threatened Monday to overtax in the near future. Among them, iconic exports such as cheeses, sparkling wine, cosmetics, porcelain, handbags.
Washington believes it is entitled to impose additional tariffs on these products up to 100% if Paris does not waive its tax on digital companies, which target according to the United States "Unjustly" American behemoths, GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon).
The imposition of punitive tariffs on French products – which would be added to other surcharges already decided by the United States because of a dispute around the aircraft manufacturer Airbus – can not intervene before mid-January , after a period of consultations.
The European Union will act with "one voice"
The conciliatory tone of the two presidents contrasts with the more offensive tone of the ministers of both countries. Digital taxes, whether applied in France or those announced in Italy and Austria, are "Anti-American" US Trade Minister Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Tuesday. "Europe does not really have hi-tech champions (…). There is a lot of jealousy, according to him.
The French economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, had railed earlier against an American threat "Unacceptable" and announced as early as Monday that " never " France would renounce her tax.
The European Union, "Will act with one voice" face the latest US offensive, promised Tuesday a spokesman for the European Commission. Europeans, until now unable to find a common solution on digital taxation, will seek to engage "Immediately discussions with the United States on how to resolve this issue amicably".
The French tax imposes the digital giants to 3% of turnover in France. This device must bring to the French State some 400 million euros, a sum that may seem derisory – Apple, for example, announced a little over a month ago an annual profit of more than 55 billion dollars . But that does not prevent the French tax from sowing from the beginning the discord between Paris and Washington.
Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump had already promised to resolve their dispute at the last G7, giving the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) the mandate to negotiate a broad international agreement on the thorny issue of digital taxation .
The big names in tech are regularly blamed for not paying their fair share of taxes, thanks to optimization packages that allow them to transfer their profits to low tax states.
"It's not France that will tax them"
After supporting the quest for an international solution, the Trump administration, rather known for criticizing multilateral negotiations regardless of their purpose, has, according to France and the European Commission, already distanced itself from the project. led by the OECD.
In London, the US president has also clearly stated his goal, before meeting with Mr. Macron: these digital companies "Are ours, they are American companies, I want to tax them, it is not France who will tax them", did he declare.
The Trump administration also said on Monday that it plans to open an investigation against Austria, Italy and Turkey to determine if their digital taxes are threatening US companies. Austria said that " seriously " these threats and consider this measure as "The wrong way to go".
