Page 25 - ARUBATODAY

BUSINESS Thursday 23 January 2020
A25

U.S.-French tax truce a respite in tense relations with EU

By PAN PYLAS and JAMEY Le Maire said France was
KEATEN not in a position to scrap
Associated Press its tax until such an inter-
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) national accord has been
— France will delay its reached and insisted that
tax on big tech firms like companies reliant on inter-
Google and Facebook in net business need to pay
exchange for the United taxes wherever they are
States's promise to hold off based and wherever they
retaliatory tariffs — a poten- operate.
tial sign of goodwill in the The French measure is an
U.S. and European Union's attempt to get around tax
increasingly tense relations avoidance measures by
over trade. multinationals, which pay
After U.S. President Donald most of their taxes in the EU
Trump threatened the EU country they are based in
with bigger tariffs, French — often at very low rates.
Finance Minister Bruno That effectively means the
Le Maire said Wednes- companies pay next to no
day he had negotiated tax in countries where they
a truce with U.S. Treasury have large operations
chief Steven Mnuchin on "Digital companies will pay
the sidelines of the World U.S. President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, left, and Ivanka Trump, behind the President, leave their fair tax in 2020," Le
Economic Forum in Davos, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. Maire told reporters in Da-
Switzerland. Associated Press vos.
Le Maire said France would At face value, the deal ap-
delay collection of the in the U.S., which launched tive taxes. They agreed to "I absolutely expect we pears to dial down the risk
digital tax until December, retaliatory tariffs against on Wednesday in Davos. will come to a solution be- of a wider trade war be-
parking the issue until af- French wine, cheese and Le Maire, Mnuchin and the cause there is no plan B," tween the U.S. and the EU,
ter the next U.S. presiden- other products. head of the Paris-based Gurría told The Associated of which France is part of.
tial election where Trump The two countries eventu- Organization or Economic Press earlier in Davos. However, Trump and
hopes to secure another ally agreed a month later Co-operation and Devel- It remains unclear whether Mnuchin both took a no-
four-year term. to try to create an interna- opment, José Ángel Gurría, they can find an interna- ticeably tough line on the
The 3% tax on the revenues tional agreement on how will meet Thursday to work tional agreement, as it EU that stoked concerns
of big internet companies to tax digital business by on an international ap- would involve dozens of that the months ahead
only came into force last mid-2020, but neither side proach to taxes on digital countries with often con- could see a new escalation
July and prompted outrage would back off their puni- companies. flicting views. in trade tensions.q

Tesla passes $100 billion, teeing up big payout for Musk

DETROIT (AP) — The mete- for $350.02 per share. If he sation packages detailed earn more than $50 billion units, could finally be turn-
oric rise of Tesla shares that sells the shares, he would in company filings with over the next decade if ing the corner to profitabil-
recently pushed the com- make just over $371 million. the U.S. Securities and Ex- that value hits $650 billion. ity. But Tesla has posted
pany's value over $100 bil- But for the options to vest, change Commission. In the third quarter, Tesla mostly losses during its first
lion could turn into a super- the market capitalization Musk could get more stock posted a surprising $143 decade as a publicly held
charged payday for CEO has to average above payouts for every addi- million profit, raising hopes company, and it lost $1.1
Elon Musk. $100 billion for the next six tional $50 billion increase that the company, which billion during the first half of
Stock in Tesla Inc. rose an- months, and it has to be in market capitalization. By also makes battery storage last year.q
other 4.1% Wednesday,
pushing the market value
of the electric vehicle and
solar panel maker past a
critical milestone in Musk's
pay package. He could
get a stock options pack-
age worth over $371 mil-
lion.
Tesla shares closed at
$569.56 on Wednesday,
giving the company a mar-
ket capitalization of $102.7
billion.
Shares have tripled in value
since May, meaning Tesla's In this Nov. 10, 2019, file photo an unsold Model X sports-utility
market capitalization now vehicle sits with other vehicles at a Tesla dealership in Littleton,
exceeds the value of Ford Colo.
and General Motors, com- Associated Press
bined. For Musk, hitting $100
billion in market value trig- above $100 billion for the meeting ambitious market
gers an option to buy 1.69 next 30 business days, ac- capitalization and opera-
million shares of Tesla stock cording to the compen- tional milestones, he could