Tech Groups Open to USTR Punishing 9 Countries in Retaliation for DSTs

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative received some 380 comments on the possibility of punishing Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the U.K. if they start collecting digital service taxes as proposed. USTR is also considering punishing the EU, which is considering a unionwide DST. Trade groups that are concerned about the proposed DSTs -- including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- asked the U.S. to continue working toward a global solution through the Organization of Community and Economic Development. Tech groups are less worried about such penalties over other countries' DSTs. "Contrary to some press accounts, the Chamber understands real progress has been achieved in some aspects of the negotiations under way," it wrote. Associations whose tech members would be most affected by DST didn't discourage the use of tariffs. The Information Technology Industry Council said Belgium and Kenya should also be in the crosshairs, because they are also considering such taxes. The Computer & Communications Industry Association praised the use of tariff threats on France's DST, suggesting it could be effective again. "CCIA takes seriously the impact that tariffs can have and, as a general policy view, believes that they only be used in limited circumstances, in a targeted manner, and where there is a clear strategy in place designed to change the behavior of a trading partner. In the French case, it was encouraging that this strong action led to the temporary pause of collection on behalf of the French government in January 2020." The docket is USTR-2020-0022 and here. USTR announced this month it's delaying duties on French goods for now (see 2007100057).