US: Allow tech giants to opt out of new global tax scheme, or face tariffs
Japan doesn't like that one bit
US treasury secretary Stephen Mnuchin warned G20 members of retaliatory tariffs should negotiations for a global tax on tech giants fail, Reuters reports.
"We've been very consistent in saying we think the digital services tax is discriminatory in nature against digital companies, and specifically a handful of US companies," Mnuchin told reporters attending a G20 meeting in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. "The president was clear that we were proceeding with […] reciprocal tariffs."
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is in charge of international tax discussions like these, has floated new rules to force major players in tech - Apple, Amazon, et al - to pay taxes in the countries in which they do business.
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It's a move that most finance leaders of major economies in the G20 support: A global effort to make it more difficult for companies to shift profits (and tax-
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