Britain’s tax on tech titans may be the key to cutting them down to size
by Guardian Staff from on (#4YEK5)
Trump is threatening retaliation if the UK plan becomes law. But taking a tough line may be the key to a global deal
When US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin threatens to impose tariffs on a country's car industry if it taxes American tech giants, you are inclined to believe that he means it. "If people want to just arbitrarily put taxes on our digital companies," he said, "we will consider arbitrarily putting taxes on car companies."
A trigger-happy White House, steeped in trade disputes with various economic competitors, needs little excuse for retaliation. So the British government's plan to impose a 2% sales tax on the largest digital companies - ensnaring the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple - provides all the excuse President Donald Trump needs.
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