US Withdraws From Global Digital Tax Talks

The Trump administration has suspended fraught international tax negotiations with European countries and warned that it will retaliate if they move forward with plans to impose new taxes on American technology companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google. The decision, conveyed in a letter from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to European finance ministers last week, comes as global talks have stalled over how to tax commerce that takes place online, particularly in countries where companies sell goods and services but have no physical presence. The collapse of negotiations could set off an escalating trade war and saddle multinational corporations with vast new uncertainty over their future tax bills, at a time when the coronavirus has upended supply chains and business models worldwide.