White House considering tariffs of up to 100% on $2.4B of French goods

Axios ^ | 12/3/2019 | Zachary Basu

[Zhang Fei]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on Monday that it is considering tariffs as high as 100% on up to $2.4 billion worth of French products, following an investigation that concluded France's digital tax "discriminates against U.S. digital companies, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon."

Why it matters: The proposal underscores the administration's willingness to expand the scope of President Trump's trade war beyond just China and use tariffs as a weapon to retaliate against other countries. It was announced around the same time that Trump landed in London for a NATO summit, where he will come face to face with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The list of products that could be targeted includes sparkling wine, French cheese, handbags and more.

[Licensed-To-Carry]

Just use American snails.

[Zhang Fei]

[I cant tell you how pleasing to me it is to see your post. I get so tired of the worn out use/misuse of the propagandist phrase ‘military industrial complex’ by people who have no idea what they are talking about, about what parts of govt are actually constitutional, and how much is wasted on ‘non-discretionary’ welfare spending or extra-constitutional waste.]

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It’s not just that. A huge chunk of left-wing/Soviet disinformation is now what conservatives erroneously consider to be true. It’s because many claims that were exclusive to far left publications like the Nation and Mother Jones are now routinely peddled in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and objections batted away as conspiracy theories.

[Stentor]

Sacre bleu! I hope Pete Buttigieg stocked up on French maid outfits in his size.

I looked for an Alfred E Neuman in a French maid outfit Mad magazine cover and was surprised to not find one.

[Religion and Politics]

I guess a shot across Air Bus’ bow.

[Bigg Red]

Well said.

[lodi90]

Looks kind of weak to propose this while Trump is going light on the Chicoms.

[NorseViking]

The French are selling niche products in US. I don’t envision Moet Chandon drinkers switching to Paul Masson. The same is true for cheese and handbags.

[Zhang Fei]

[Looks kind of weak to propose this while Trump is going light on the Chicoms.]

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New China tariffs still scheduled to go into effect Dec 15.

US won’t hold back on tariffs if Chinese drag their feet: Wilbur Ross
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-tariffs-chinese-deal-wilbur-ross

[unread]

"France has lost tens of thousands of millionaires an billionaires. They must be hurting."

Hmmm... I wonder how the muslims are going to run france after they take over the country..

[Zhang Fei]

[The French are selling niche products in US. I don’t envision Moet Chandon drinkers switching to Paul Masson. The same is true for cheese and handbags.]

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They might or might not switch. But they’ll probably consume less.

[dforest]

Perhaps yellow vests, fire hoses, and barbed wire.

[Sirius Lee]

U.S. digital companies, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.

I hope President Trump doesn't harbor any delusions that these companies will become buddies with him, even if he does them favors. They are backstabbers, just like romney.

[livius]

In the article, it says that this is because of France’s punitive taxes on US digital services companies.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Zhang Fei.

.

[OrangeHoof]

Why, exactly are they helping these businesses that openly hate Trump and conspiring to remove him from office?

[Zhang Fei]

[Why, exactly are they helping these businesses that openly hate Trump and conspiring to remove him from office?]

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They are key pillars of the US economy. Google alone makes more money than all of Detroit’s automakers.

[Zhang Fei]

[Why, exactly are they helping these businesses that openly hate Trump and conspiring to remove him from office?]

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The other issue being, if there’s an entity that should be taxing them, it should be the IRS, not France’s revenue department. Imagine if France decided you should start paying them taxes.

[Eleutheria5]

But they had a press sit-down on FNC today, and seemed to be getting on famously.

[USS Alaska]

I once owned a Renault LeCar.

I once rented a paris hooker for a 4 day week end. Talk about fish. Wow.

It was a requirement that the french invented perfume, after 4 days...just WOW.

[bgill]

Tariffs are a tax and increases the price for US consumers. If the WH wants to hurt France or whatever country, just ban their imports. The US produces plenty of wine and cheese. The only folks who will be put out are snotty restaurateurs.