Trump threatens 100% tariff on French wines over digital tax on tech firms
US President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 100 per cent tariff on French wine and champagne unless Paris removes a digital services tax on tech firms, the New York Post reported on Monday.
France imposed in 2019 a three per cent levy on the revenues earned by technology firms – including American giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google parent Alphabet – within the country’s borders.
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host Trump on Monday before the G7 summit gets underway at the spa resort of Evian on Lake Geneva.
Trump said he asked Macron “not to charge American companies”, according to the New York Post.
“If they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100 per cent tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France,” he was quoted as saying.
“All (Macron) has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn’t have that kind of pressure.”
