WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President for Tax Policy Watson McLeish issued the following statement following the Government of Canada’s issuance of its 2023 Fall Economic Statement, which among other things signaled Canada’s intent to proceed with enacting a digital services tax (DST):
“The Chamber is deeply concerned by the government of Canada’s move—in its Fall Economic Statement—toward enacting a unilateral and discriminatory digital services tax. This action follows Canada’s decision in July to oppose 138 of its fellow members of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting who voted to refrain from imposing new DSTs or similar measures on any company for another year. We urge the Canadian government to reverse course and make clear that it will not unilaterally impose a DST.
“Canada’s DST would not only target U.S. companies in a discriminatory manner but also contravene Canada’s obligations under both the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is for these reasons that the prospect of unilateral Canadian DST action has elicited bipartisan calls for retaliatory measures in both chambers of Congress and similar warnings from the Biden administration.
“The Chamber respectfully renews our call for Canada to abandon its counterproductive go-it-alone approach and rejoin the OECD/G20-led multilateral process—including the extended moratorium on DSTs.”
In related news, the U.S. Chamber joined the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and several other North American business groups in sending a November 15 letter to the Government of Canada opposing Canada’s unilateral DST proposal.
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