U.S. slaps French goods with 25% tariff over digital tax, but delays effective date

The Trump administration on Friday said it would slap additional duties of 25% on French imports valued at $1.3 billion in response to France's new digital services tax but would delay implementation of the new tariffs for up to 180 days.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office said the move would affect French goods such as cosmetics and handbags. It said the delayed implementation would allow further time to resolve the issue, including through discussions in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The U.S. move follows a U.S. Section 301 probe which concluded the French tax discriminates against U.S. tech firms such as Google Facebook and Apple Inc.