French tax authorities have begun demanding millions of euros from US tech giants as they push ahead with a new digital services tax that has enraged Washington.
Facebook and Amazon are among the companies to have received communication from French authorities in recent days demanding payment of the tax for 2020, and multiple more companies have been contacted, according to French officials and company executives and advisers.
The collection of the tax, which Washington has said is an example of an unfair trade practice because it largely affects US companies, threatens to reignite the transatlantic trade war and trigger new US tariffs on Europe weeks ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden.