Leading Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee have taken issue with the Biden Administration’s stance on tariffs and digital services taxes.
Last week, the Biden Administration reached a deal with Austria, France, Italy, Spain, and Britain to end the threat of American tariffs on certain goods from those countries in exchange for the removal of digital services taxes those countries had imposed on technology companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google, as the New York Times reported.
“The Biden Administration is claiming victory despite a bipartisan consensus against foreign digital services taxes that unfairly target U.S. companies. A comprehensive U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) report determined these taxes are unreasonable and unfairly burden U.S. commerce,” said Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Kevin Brady, ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee. “Instead of taking action, however, the Biden Administration retreated by failing to demand immediate repeal of discriminatory taxes, which will continue for years, if not indefinitely. The Administration simply settled for an empty promise–if we reform our tax laws to these countries’ satisfaction, then they will grant U.S. businesses tax credits against future taxes.”
Further, Crapo, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-ID), and Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA) have expressed concerns with the Administration’s suggestions it is considering circumventing the Senate’s constitutional treaty authority in implementing a global tax agreement.