On Friday, Germany and France welcomed the US proposal to put a 15% tax rate on profits of multinationals globally, ahead of the European Union finance ministers’ meeting in Lisbon.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Washington’s proposal “would be a good compromise.”

“But the main question is not the number. We can live at 15%, but the main question is defining a global framework for digital tax and a minimum tax,” he added.

German Finance Minister Olaf Schultz said the 15% minimum proposal “is indeed a big step forward”.

Negotiations, at the initiative of Washington, to establish a harmonized global tax rate on profits of multinationals are still underway within the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The US Treasury said in a statement on Thursday that the Biden administration had proposed to its OECD partners setting a “minimum” tax rate of 15% on profits of multinational corporations.

The Treasury stressed that 15% is “the basis” and that discussions will continue with the aim of “ambitious” and “increasing this rate.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes 36 countries, hopes to reach a global agreement in principle at the G20 finance meeting on July 9-10, and then at the last meeting in October.

aro-fmi / esp / pc / me