FILE PHOTO: French Finance Minster Bruno Le Maire leaves a cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace on April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - The United States and France should find means other than threats to solve the problem of how to tax big tech firms, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday after Washington launched a probe into France’s planned digital tax

“Between allies we can and should solve our disputes not by threats but through other ways,” Le Maire told senators ahead of a final vote on the tax.

“France is sovereign country, its decisions on tax matters are sovereign and will continue to be sovereign,” he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into the planned French tax, in a probe that could lead to the United States imposing new tariffs or other trade restrictions.