French Economy Minister: "If US Retaliates Against Digital Tax, We Will File Complaint with WTO"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] The French Minister of Economy has sent a message that France will retaliate if the United States takes trade retaliation measures against France's digital tax.

Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy and Finance, appeared on France Inter radio on the 6th (local time) and stated, "If the United States enforces sanctions on the digital tax, we will retaliate," adding that France may file a complaint against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Minister Le Maire said he sent a letter containing this message to Robert Lighthizer, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), and added that he plans to discuss this issue soon with Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He also mentioned that he is in close contact with other European Union (EU) member states regarding this matter.

According to foreign media, in the letter, Minister Le Maire stated, "If the United States imposes sanctions on the EU regarding France's digital tax, it will have a serious and lasting impact on transatlantic relations (between the U.S. and Europe) at a time when close cooperation between both sides is necessary."

The United States has concluded that France's 'digital tax' discriminates against its domestic internet giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, and has announced retaliatory measures including imposing additional tariffs of up to 100% on 63 types of French imports worth $2.4 billion (2.8 trillion won).

Since this year, France has been imposing a digital tax of 3% on the annual total revenue earned within France by global IT companies with annual revenues exceeding 750 million euros (approximately 990 billion won) and generating more than 25 million euros in revenue within France.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.