EU Trade Chief Hogan, Lighthizer to Discuss French Tariff Threat

(Bloomberg) --

The European Union's chief trade negotiator Phil Hogan will sit down with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer next month to discuss an American threat to hit France with tariffs on $2.4 billion of its exports.

“We are looking at all possibilities, but we prefer to have a negotiated settlement,” Hogan said in an interview in Kildare, Ireland, referring to what actions the EU may take if the U.S. follows through with the levies. “I will be visiting the U.S. in January to meet with my counterpart Ambassador Lighthizer in order to explore possible avenues where we could reach agreement rather than engage in confrontation.”

Read more: Why Digital Taxes Are the New Trade War Flashpoint: QuickTake

The office of the USTR announced this week that it was considering the tariffs in response to a French digital services tax that it says unfairly discriminates against U.S. companies. The levy would hit tech companies including Google, Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

France moved ahead with the tax despite objections from the U.S. because it says that the structure of the global economy has changed to one based on data, rendering current taxation systems archaic. The tax affects companies with at least 750 million euros ($832 million) in global revenue and digital sales of 25 million euros in France.

“We have a lot of things to discuss with the U.S. and we look forward to an engagement in a cooperative way rather than a confrontational way so I hope the U.S. thinks likewise,” Hogan said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Richard Bravo, Andrew Atkinson

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