July 31, 2019

Anna Murray 

On July 30, the French Agriculture Minister, Didier Guillaume told BFM TV, a global news channel based in France available in digital, cable and satellite television, calls President Trump’s threat to tax French wine being “absurd” and “completely moronic”. On July 27, Minister Le Maire said France simply brought up consensus on a fair digital tax and urged the US not to mix the two issues of French wine and technology companies like the GAFA.

The French Senate had passed a digital tax law on July 11 to impose a 3% levy on more than 30 technology firms, mostly American including Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon (GAFA). The new tax which French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire estimated at least €750m (£675m) in annual revenues and the GAFA alone would yield €500m (£450m) each year.

In the meanwhile, US President Donald Trump had ordered the Office of the US Trade Representative on July 10 to investigate into the new French tax on the GAFA. Furthermore, President Trump told reporters and threatened that his administration would unleash steep tariffs on French wines in retaliation exactly as trade experts have already predicted.

Photo:Webshot.