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Tech fight could weaken world trade

International tax and trade rules cannot address the disruption to national economies that technology giants like Amazon and Facebook cause, writes the WSJ’s Greg Ip.

Instead of working together on a solution, individual nations are going it alone, as events this week show:

• The Trump administration said on Monday that a French tax on digital services discriminated against the United States, a declaration that could lead to retaliatory tariffs.

• But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin followed on Tuesday by urging countries to suspend targeted taxes on digital services and called for a multilateral deal.

That stance is ironic, Mr. Ip writes: “Unilateralism is the hallmark of Mr. Trump’s approach, in steel, cars and his trade war with China.”