Market news: France will increase the digital tax rate for companies such as Amazon and Google's parent company from 3% to 6%.

The French National Assembly has passed an amendment to the 2026 budget that would raise the tax rate on digital income for companies such as Amazon, Google parent Alphabet and Meta to 6 per cent from the current 3 per cent. Although the increase is smaller than another proposal to raise the tax rate to 15 per cent, it still means that the tax will be significantly increased. The French move is likely to provoke a strong reaction from Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to retaliate against France over the measure. Republican lawmakers in the US have warned that raising the tax rate to 15 per cent would constitute an unprovoked attack on US technology companies and leave Congress and the Trump administration with little choice but to take tough retaliatory action. The amendment is just one of the components of the budget, and the bill could be voted on next month or in December. Whether it will eventually become law remains uncertain. Although the amendment to the 6% tax rate was proposed by lawmakers from President Macron's party, the French government remains cautious and said it will continue to communicate with parliament. "We have taken note of the willingness of parliament to strengthen the taxation of digital giants," the French finance minister said. "This matter needs to be handled carefully, especially with regard to raising the threshold for tax rates. We must move forward through the European level and international dialogue." (Jin Ten)