Washington suspends customs duties on French products

 

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that the application of additional tariffs on iconic French products like champagne, in retaliation for the French digital tax, and which was to come into force on January 6, 2021 is finally postponed. .

The office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) explains, in a press release, wanting to await the results of investigations concerning digital taxes in other countries and jurisdictions, and specifies that the suspension of customs duties targeting France “Will promote a coordinated response”. “These investigations have progressed considerably, but have not yet resulted in possible trade sanctions”, underlines the USTR. No timetable has been communicated.

French products targeted

The United States has threatened since the end of 2019 to apply additional tariffs on certain French products, including champagne, cheese, beauty products or handbags. France recently confirmed that it would levy its tax on Gafa (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple) for 2020, and the Franco-American truce concluded in January 2020 for one year expired on January 6.

Among the countries targeted by these USTR investigations, India, Italy and Turkey were threatened with trade sanctions by the United States on Wednesday. Washington has estimated that the digital taxes put in place by these three countries penalize American companies. The other countries under investigation are Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Spain and the United Kingdom. A separate investigation targets the European Union. These investigations began in June 2020.

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