Washington — The United States Trade Representative announced the findings of the first stage of its investigation into France’s Digital Services Tax under Section 301 of the Trade Act. The report concludes that the DST “discriminates against U.S. companies, is inconsistent with prevailing principles of international tax policy, and is unusually burdensome for affected U.S. companies.” USTR will next seek input on potential remedies.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association welcomes USTR’s investigation and its strong response to France’s discriminatory actions against U.S. tech companies. CCIA filed comments with USTR in August in response to the query on the French digital tax, and will continue to provide input to policymakers regarding why such digital taxes discriminate against U.S. exports.
The following can be attributed to CCIA COO, Matt Schruers:
“USTR’s report sends a strong signal to France, and has alerted other countries finalizing similar measures that discriminatory taxes will not be tolerated. We are encouraged to see that USTR is also considering action under the Section 301 process against these countries.
“USTR’s action shows how important the ongoing OECD process is. Countries bypassing the multilateral process with unilaterally DSTs proceed at their peril. As CCIA has emphasized, changes to international taxation rules should be done through a consensus-based, multilateral approach that does not target specific U.S. services. An OECD solution, not discriminatory national digital taxes that incite trade conflicts, remains the best path forward.”
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