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The
actions, expected by industry to be announced on Friday, are
tied to a U.S. Section 301 probe into France's digital tax,
which Washington says discriminates against U.S. tech firms such
as Google, Facebook and Apple Inc.
The United States last month withdrew from multilateral talks to
reach a global solution on digital services taxation, citing a
lack of progress in the negotiations.
"We’re going to announce that we’re going to be taking certain
sanctions against France, suspending them like they’re
suspending collection of the taxes right now," Lighthizer told
an online event hosted by the London-based Chatham House think
tank.
Officials from the European Union delegation and French Embassy
in Washington were not immediately available to comment.
One industry source said USTR could announce an action on Friday
reserving the right to impose tariffs on around $500 million
worth of French goods that were included in a larger list
published in December, while deferring implementation.
USTR in December said it could slap punitive duties of up to
100% on $2.4 billion in imports from France, including goods
such as Champagne, handbags and cheese, after concluding the
French tax would harm U.S. tech companies.
The list targeted some products that were spared from 25%
tariffs imposed by the United States over disputed European
Union aircraft subsidies, including sparkling wines, handbags
and make-up preparations.
Spokespeople for the European Union delegation in Washington and
the French embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
The issue will be a topic when finance ministers from both the
Group of Seven advanced economies and the Group of 20 major
economies meet in coming weeks.
(Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Sonya
Hepinstall and Alistair Bell)
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