DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — France will delay its tax on the digital business of big tech firms like Google and Faceook in exchange for the United States’s promise to hold off retaliatory sanctions – a deal that could avert a broader trade dispute.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday he had agreed on the truce with U.S. Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin, at a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Le Maire said France would delay collection of the digital tax until December – through the next U.S. election cycle, potentially easing pressure for President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection.
But the French minister said his country would never scrap it entirely until an international accord can be reached.
“Digital companies will pay their fair tax in 2020,” Le Maire told reporters in Davos.
