Macron, Trump reach breakthrough in digital tax dispute

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - The presidents of France and the U.S. agreed Monday to work together to resolve a spat between their two countries over Paris’ digital services tax.

"Great discussion with @realDonaldTrump on digital tax. We will work together on a good agreement to avoid tariff escalation," Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.

Macron announced that talks over the contentious tax, which the U.S. trade office said unfairly discriminates against major U.S. tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, will continue at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The White House said in a statement that Donald Trump noted the two agreed that it is important to "complete successful negotiations" on the tax. It is hoped that a deal can be reached by the end of the year.

France signed the tax into law last July, in which a 3% levy is applied to revenue from digital services earned by firms that have total annual revenue of 25 million euros ($28 million) from France and 750 million euros ($827 million) worldwide.

The U.S. has threatened to impose taxes on French products in response.