US warns of WTO action over 'discriminatory' new digital taxes

The US is weighing a complaint at the World Trade Organisation against "discriminatory" new taxes on digital giants such as a Facebook and Google which are being planned by France and other EU nations, a top US trade official said Tuesday.

"Various parts of our government are studying whether that discriminatory impact would give us rights under trade agreements and WTO treaties," Chip Harter, a Treasury official and US delegate for global tax talks, said in Paris.