U.S. must commit to dropping tariffs in response to french commitment to drop Digital Services Tax

While speaking with reporters on 14 October 2021, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stated that France will withdraw its digital services tax (DST) as soon as the new international system for the taxation of the digital economy is in force and implemented. This follows the recent agreement by members of the Inclusive Framework for the OECD’s two-pillar solution. However, Minister Le Maire further stated that given the commitment to withdraw DSTs, the U.S. must also commit to dropping retaliatory tariffs on France and all European countries. The U.S. imposed additional tariffs on imports from several countries following the conclusion of a Section 301 investigation into their DSTs. These tariffs were suspended to provide time for the conclusion of negotiations for the OECD solution, although no commitment has yet been made by the U.S. to withdraw the tariffs now that agreement has been reached.