Defendiendo a las empresas y a los innovadores estadounidenses de la extorsión extranjera y de multas y sanciones injustas

MEMORANDUM PARA EL SECRETARIO DEL TESORO

     EL SECRETARIO DE COMERCIO

     EL REPRESENTANTE COMERCIAL DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS

     EL CONSEJERO PRINCIPAL DEL PRESIDENTE EN MATERIA DE COMERCIO

     Y FABRICACIÓN

SUBJECT:       Defending American Companies and Innovators From
               Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties
 
     Section 1.  Purpose.  In recent years, the gross domestic product of the United States’ digital economy alone, driven by cutting-edge American technology companies, has been bigger than the entire economy of Australia, Canada, or most members of the European Union.  Instead of empowering their own workers and economies, foreign governments have increasingly exerted extraterritorial authority over American companies, particularly in the technology sector, hindering these companies’ success and appropriating revenues that should contribute to our Nation’s well-being, not theirs.  
 
     Beginning in 2019, several trading partners enacted digital services taxes (DSTs) that could cost American companies billions of dollars and that foreign government officials openly admit are designed to plunder American companies.  Foreign countries have additionally adopted regulations governing digital services that are more burdensome and restrictive on United States companies than their own domestic companies.  Additional foreign legal regimes limit cross-border data flows, require American streaming services to fund local productions, and charge network usage and Internet termination fees.  All of these measures violate American sovereignty and offshore American jobs, limit American companies’ global competitiveness, and increase American operational costs while exposing our sensitive information to potentially hostile foreign regulators.
 
     My Administration will not allow American companies and workers and American economic and national security interests to be compromised by one-sided, anti-competitive policies and practices of foreign governments.  American businesses will no longer prop up failed foreign economies through extortive fines and taxes.
 
     Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of my Administration that where a foreign government, through its tax or regulatory structure, imposes a fine, penalty, tax, or other burden that is discriminatory, disproportionate, or designed to transfer significant funds or intellectual property from American companies to the foreign government or the foreign government’s favored domestic entities, my Administration will act, imposing tariffs and taking such other responsive actions necessary to mitigate the harm to the United States and to repair any resulting imbalance.
 
     In taking such responsive action, my Administration shall consider:
 
     (a)  taxes imposed on United States companies by foreign governments, including those that may discriminate against United States companies;
 
     (b)  regulations imposed on United States companies by foreign governments that could inhibit the growth or intended operation of United States companies;
 
     (c)  any act, policy, or practice of a foreign government that could require a United States company to jeopardize its intellectual property; and
 
     (d)  Any other act, policy, or practice of a foreign government that serves to undermine the global competitiveness of United States companies.  
 

     Sec. 3.  Agency Responsibilities.  (a)  The United States Trade Representative shall determine, in accordance with applicable law, whether to renew investigations under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411) of the DSTs of France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, which were initiated under my Administration on July 16, 2019, and June 5, 2020.  If the United States Trade Representative determines to renew such investigations, he shall take all appropriate and feasible action in response to those DSTs.

     (b)  The United States Trade Representative shall determine, consistent with section 302(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)) (section 302(b)), whether to investigate the DST of any other country that may discriminate against United States companies or burden or restrict United States commerce.  He shall further determine whether to pursue a panel under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on the DST imposed by Canada and whether to investigate Canada’s DST under section 302(b).  In making these determinations, the United States Trade Representative shall consult with the Secretary of the Treasury, as appropriate.
 
     (c)  The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative shall jointly identify trade and other regulatory practices by other countries, including, without limitation, those described in section 2 of this memorandum, that discriminate against, disproportionately affect, or otherwise undermine the global competitiveness or intended operation of United States companies, in the digital economy and more generally, and recommend to me appropriate actions to counter such practices under applicable authorities.  The United States Trade Representative shall include the results of this review as part of the report required in section 5(c) of the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025 (America First Trade Policy) (America First Trade Policy Memorandum).
 
     (d)  The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative shall investigate whether any act, policy, or practice of any country in the European Union or the United Kingdom has the effect of requiring or incentivizing the use or development of United States companies’ products or services in ways that undermine freedom of speech and political engagement or otherwise moderate content, and recommend appropriate actions to counter such practices under applicable authorities.  The United States Trade Representative shall include the results of this review as part of the report required in section 5(c) of the America First Trade Policy Memorandum.
 
     (e) El Secretario del Tesoro, en consulta con el Secretario de Comercio y el Representante Comercial de los Estados Unidos, determinará si algún país extranjero somete a ciudadanos o empresas de los Estados Unidos, incluidos, sin limitación, en la economía digital, a impuestos discriminatorios o extraterritoriales, o tiene alguna medida fiscal vigente que de otra manera socave la competitividad global de las empresas de los Estados Unidos, sea incompatible con algún tratado fiscal de los Estados Unidos o sea de otra manera procesable en virtud de la sección 891 del título 26 del Código de los Estados Unidos u otra autoridad legal relacionada con los impuestos. El Secretario del Tesoro incluirá los resultados de esta determinación como parte del informe requerido en la sección 2 del Memorándum Presidencial del 20 de enero de 2025 (El Acuerdo Fiscal Global de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE)).
 
     (f) El Representante Comercial de los Estados Unidos identificará las herramientas que Estados Unidos puede utilizar para asegurar entre los socios comerciales una moratoria permanente sobre los aranceles aduaneros sobre las transmisiones electrónicas. El Representante Comercial de los Estados Unidos incluirá los resultados de esta revisión como parte del informe requerido en la sección 5(c) del Memorándum de Política Comercial America First.
 
     (g) El Representante Comercial de los Estados Unidos, en consulta con el Secretario de Comercio y el Consejero Superior del Presidente para Comercio y Manufactura, establecerá un proceso que permita a las empresas estadounidenses informar al Representante Comercial de los Estados Unidos sobre prácticas regulatorias o tributarias extranjeras que perjudiquen desproporcionadamente a las compañías de los Estados Unidos.
 
     Sec .  4. Disposiciones generales .   (a) Nada en este memorando se interpretará como que perjudica o afecta de otra manera:
 
          (i) la autoridad otorgada por ley a un departamento o agencia ejecutiva, o al jefe del mismo; o
 
          (ii) las funciones del Director de la Oficina de Administración y Presupuesto relacionadas con propuestas presupuestarias, administrativas o legislativas.
 
     (b) Este memorando se implementará de conformidad con la ley aplicable y sujeto a la disponibilidad de asignaciones.
 
     (c) Este memorando no tiene por objeto, y no crea, ningún derecho o beneficio, sustantivo o procesal, exigible por ley o en equidad por ninguna de las partes contra los Estados Unidos, sus departamentos, agencias o entidades, sus funcionarios, empleados o agentes, o cualquier otra persona.

     (d) El Representante Comercial de los Estados Unidos está autorizado y se le ordena publicar este memorando en el  Registro Federal .