France says US blocking global digital tax talks

'It's very clear, the United States don't want a digital tax (deal) at the OECD,' French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. He is pictured here in a news conference in France on Sept 3. — Reuters

PARIS: France accused the United States on Sept 9 of seeking to undermine international talks to update cross-border taxation for the digital age and urged Europe to prepare an EU tax if the negotiations fail.

Nearly 140 countries are negotiating the first major rewrite of international tax rules in a generation to account for the rise of big digital companies like Google and Amazon.