US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Monday spoke with French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire about the importance of working together toward a solution in the ongoing Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) discussions on international taxation, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement.
During their conversation, Yellen emphasized US support for a strong economic recovery and explained US President Joe Biden’s administration’s broader plans to support jobs and investment in the US, the department said.
“The secretary also expressed support for measures to promote the global recovery through multilateral mechanisms and support for low-income countries,” it said.
Nearly 140 countries are racing to wrap up talks by the middle of this year to modernize outdated rules on how much governments can tax cross-border commerce and set a global minimum corporate tax rate.
The talks stalled last year following a proposal by the administration of then-US president Donald Trump to let companies out of new global tax rules, but Yellen has since dropped that demand.
Yellen had underscored her commitment to reaching a global agreement through the OECD, and would discuss the issue with her G20 counterparts when they meet virtually next week.
The US in January had already refrained from imposing threatened tariffs on US$1.3 billion in imports of French Champagne, cosmetics, handbags and other goods in retaliation for France’s digital tax, but said it could still impose them if the OECD talks did not result in a global solution.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) last week said the same applied to US tariffs threatened against goods from Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK in retaliation for their respective digital services taxes.
The Office of the US Trade Representative investigations into the taxes adopted by the six countries found that they discriminate against US technology companies and are inconsistent with international tax norms.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a