Macron, Trump agree to hold off on a potential tariffs war

French president Emmanuel Macron said he had a “great discussion” with US president Donald Trump over France’s planned digital tax.
“They agreed to give a chance to negotiations until the end of the year. During that time period, there won’t be successive tariffs”, a French official said.
Macron added both sides would work together to avoid a rise in tariffs. “France is pursuing its objective of fair taxation on digital companies and finding a compromise within the framework of the OECD”, the country’s government said.
Last year, France decided to apply a 3% levy on revenue from digital services earned in France by firms with revenues of more than €25 million euros in France and €750 million euros worldwide. In November, the US government announced that it may impose punitive duties of up to 100% on $2.4 billion in imports from France of champagne, handbags, cheese and other products.
France has promised that an international deal on digital taxation reached within the OECD would immediately replace the French tax. The White House confirmed that Trump and Macron agreed to complete successful negotiations on the digital services tax.