FX.co ★ US and France agree to hold off digital tax

US President Donald Trump strictly adheres to his “America first” foreign policy and is actively promoting his country’s interests on a global scale. The US seems to continue its winning streak of successful international agreements. For instance, in the trade war with China, Donald Trump came off with flying colours as most of the phase one trade agreement has been signed largely on the terms of the American side. Besides, a trade pact with Japan was signed last year. Even the Nord Stream 2 project has been currently put on hold due to American sanctions. And now Trump managed to negotiate with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron about postponing the planned digital tax on American tech giants in France. Earlier last year, France announced that it would impose a digital tax on the US hi-tech firms’ revenue by the end of 2020 as a tit-for-tat measure for US sanctions against French exports. Last summer, the French government decided to impose a 3% additional tax on major US digital companies, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Obviously, the American president did not appreciate this move and did his best to protect the US tech giants. As a result, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, the two leaders agreed to put their tariff plans on hold until 2021. It is reported that the two parties are getting ready to elaborate on a large-scale trade agreement which, if successful, can become another Trump’s victory.