Defying Trump's threats, France to push ahead tax on tech giants

France is pushing ahead with tax on tech giants such as Google and Facebook, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of retaliatory tariffs on French wine. This week, 3 percent tax was imposed, mainly concerning companies that use consumer data to sell online advertising.

Paris: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Saturday made clear that Paris will press ahead with a landmark tax on multinational tech giants like Google and Facebook despite strong opposition from US President Donald Trump.

Trump slammed the tax as a "foolish" measure that discriminated against American companies and threatened retaliatory tariffs on French wine.

Denying the anti-American measure, Le Maire said that it was in the interests of all countries including the United States.This week, 3 per cent tax went into the force, mainly concerns companies that use consumer data to sell online advertising.It's designed to stop multinationals from avoiding taxes by setting up European headquarters in low-tax EU countries.Currently, companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Airbnb and Uber pay very little tax on their significant business in countries like France.