France

PARIS, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France and the United States have given themselves two weeks to try and resolve a row over a French digital tax, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

“I had a long talk with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. We have decided to step up efforts to try and find a compromise, within the OECD, on digital tax”, Le Maire told reporters after a meeting in Paris with EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan.

7 January 2020; AFP: The French government and unions are to resume talks Tuesday over a pensions overhaul that has unleashed the longest transport strike in decades, with the premier saying both sides need to "budge a little".

As the standoff escalated, with police deployed to oil refineries and fuel depots to prevent a blockade by unions, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said he remained open to discussion.

PARIS (Reuters) - Exports of mid-range French wines have dropped due to tariffs imposed by the United States in October over disputed aircraft subsidies, a French minister said on Tuesday.

French wine was among European Union products, including Scotch whisky and Italian cheese, targeted with a 25% duty after the World Trade Organization gave Washington the green light to impose tariffs in a long-running case over subsidies to European planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA).

PARIS, Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Both Iran and the United States must observe a convention obliging states to preserve cultural sites, the UN’s cultural agency said, after President Donald Trump threatened to target Iran’s cultural heritage.

UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay highlighted that both Tehran and Washington had signed a 1972 convention prohibiting states from taking “any deliberate measures which might damage directly or indirectly the cultural and natural heritage” of other states.

PARIS (Reuters) - French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday warned the United States against any retaliation to France’s new digital services tax.

“If the Americans decide to go ahead and impose sanctions against the digital tax ... in this case we would retaliate,” Le Maire told France Inter radio.

“If there were to be sanctions, and it is a possibility that we will take sanctions, we would immediately contact the WTO (World Trade Organization)”, he added.

PARIS, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Top French officials met to hash out their strategy ahead of fresh pension overhaul talks with unions who have threatened wider protests alongside a crippling transport strike now it its fifth week.

“The government is at work to try to find a way toward a rapid compromise,” spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye told France 2 television as Prime Minister Edouard Philippe gathered ministers for the unscheduled meeting.

PARIS (AP) — Global powers warned Friday that the American airstrike responsible for killing Iran’s top general made the world more dangerous and that escalation could set the entire Mideast aflame. Some U.S. allies suggested Iran shared in the blame by provoking the attack.

The deaths of Gen. Qassem Soleimani and several associates drew immediate cries for revenge from Tehran and a chorus of appeals from other countries seeking reduced tensions between Iran and the United States.

PARIS (Reuters) - French hardline union CGT called on Wednesday for more strikes in France this month after president Emmanuel Macron pledged to push through an overhaul of the pension system following weeks of nationwide strikes by trade unions.

Macron said in a traditional New Year’s Eve address on Tuesday that he expected his government to quickly find a compromise with unions on the reform, but without departing from the principles laid out by ministers.

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus has become the world’s largest planemaker for the first time since 2011 after delivering a forecast-beating 863 aircraft in 2019, seizing the crown from embattled U.S. rival Boeing (BA.N), airport and tracking sources said on Wednesday.

A reversal in the pecking order between the two giants had been expected as a crisis over Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX drags into 2020. But the record European data further underscores the distance Boeing must travel to recoup its market position.

PARIS, Dec 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The French government can go ahead with plans to trawl social media to detect tax avoidance, the constitutional court has ruled.

Customs and tax officials will be allowed to review users’ profiles, posts and pictures for evidence of undisclosed income.

The new rules are part of a broader law on tax changes passed last week.

Human rights groups and the French data protection authority had expressed concern over the moves.