On Wednesday, June 2, 2021, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the conclusion of its year-long Section 301 investigations of Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom’s Digital Service Taxes (DSTs).
In the final determination, the USTR has decided to impose additional tariffs on certain goods from these six countries, while suspending the existing Section 301 tariffs for up to 180 days to provide additional time to complete the ongoing multilateral negotiations.
USTR: Section 301 Digital Services Taxes
USTR DIGITAL SERVICES TAX ACTION TIMELINE
- June 2020 – USTR initiated investigations into 10 DSTs (Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom)
- January 2021 – USTR announced proposed trade actions for six investigations (Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom); USTR also terminated the remaining four investigations (Brazil, Czech Republic, European Union, and Indonesia)
- March 2021 – USTR determined that the DSTs adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom discriminated against U.S. digital companies, were inconsistent with principles of international taxation, and burdened U.S. companies.
“The United States is focused on finding a multilateral solution to a range of key issues related to international taxation, including our concerns with digital services taxes,” said United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai. “The United States remains committed to reaching a consensus on international tax issues through the OECD and G20 processes. Today’s actions provide time for those negotiations to continue to make progress while maintaining the option of imposing tariffs under Section 301 if warranted in the future.”
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