France Says It Will Keep Digital Tax Despite Retaliation Risk

France will not give up on its digital tax that hits major US tech multinationals to appease Donald Trump amid heightened trade tensions, Finance Minister Eric Lombard said.

“It is not a negotiating tool, we have it already in place,” Lombard said in a Monday interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s not changing.”

In 2019, France was among the first countries to implement a Digital Services Tax, or DST, that hits the revenues of global tech companies. At the time, Trump said the levy unfairly discriminated against American firms and threatened retaliation with tariffs on iconic French goods including cheese, sparkling ...