Freeland finds security in numbers on digital gross sales tax

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland isn’t displaying indicators of fear that the U.S. can now launch a commerce problem in opposition to the Liberal authorities’s controversial digital providers tax.

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The Liberals are slapping a three-per-cent tax on the Canadian revenues of digital giants, which is able to have an effect on main U.S. tech firms corresponding to Google and Apple.

The U.S. authorities formally challenged the tax below the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Settlement in August and as of immediately can now request a dispute-settlement panel to probe whether or not Canada’s new tax breaches the trilateral commerce pact.

It’s not clear if President Joe Biden will transfer to do this within the waning days of his administration or depart it to Donald Trump, who takes over in January.

The primary Trump administration was eyeing retaliatory measures in opposition to international locations bringing in such taxes, and highly effective Republicans in Congress have pushed for aggressive motion in opposition to Canada.

However Freeland says a few of Canada’s closest allies have introduced in their very own digital providers taxes and never confronted “commerce penalties” from the U.S.

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