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France to retaliate if US doubles Champagne, cheese prices

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2009, file photo, Bernard Roques, a refiner of Societe company, smells a Roquefort cheese as they mature in a cellar in Roquefort, southwestern France. The Trump administration is proposing tariffs on up to $2.4 billion worth of French imports, from Roquefort cheese to handbags, retaliation for France’s tax on American tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says France’s new digital services tax discriminates against U.S. companies and says that the tariffs could reach 100%.(AP Photo/Bob Edme, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2009, file photo, Bernard Roques, a refiner of Societe company, smells a Roquefort cheese as they mature in a cellar in Roquefort, southwestern France. The Trump administration is proposing tariffs on up to $2.4 billion worth of French imports, from Roquefort cheese to handbags, retaliation for France’s tax on American tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says France’s new digital services tax discriminates against U.S. companies and says that the tariffs could reach 100%.(AP Photo/Bob Edme, File)

By ANGELA CHARLTON and JOHN LEICESTER / Associated Press 4 min read

PARIS (AP) – France is bristling at a U.S. threat to slap 100% tariffs on French cheeses, Champagne and other products, with the French leader telling President Donald Trump on Tuesday that the move would amount to an attack on all of Europe.

The U.S. Trade Representative proposed the tariffs on $2.4 billion in goods Monday in retaliation for a French tax on global tech giants including Google, Amazon and Facebook.

France’s reaction was swift and robust, with President Emmanuel Macron and his finance minister both warning of a European riposte if the U.S. measure is implemented.

“We’ll see where the discussions lead in the coming weeks, but it will involve a European response,” Macron said in a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of a NATO summit in London. “Because, in effect, it wouldn’t be France that is being sanctioned or attacked but Europe.”

Macron said it’s “not fair” that digital revenues are taxed less than real-life revenues. He said France shouldn’t be singled out for wanting to correct that imbalance with a tax on tech firms.