Canada won't delay digital services tax during U.S. trade negotiations, says finance minister

Anja Karadeglija · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 19, 2025 3:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Canada won't enactment a clasp connected the integer services taxation connected large tech companies acceptable to instrumentality effect connected June 30, the concern curate said Thursday.

Pressure has mounted connected Ottawa to clasp off while the authorities is successful commercialized discussions with the U.S., which opposes the tax.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the authorities was passed by Parliament, and Canada is "going ahead" with the tax.

"The [digital services tax] is successful unit and it's going to beryllium applied," helium told reporters earlier a furniture gathering connected Parliament Hill.

The integer services taxation volition deed companies similar Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb with a 3 per cent levy connected gross from Canadian users.

It volition use retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2-billion US measure owed astatine the extremity of the month.

A June 11 missive signed by 21 members of Congress said U.S. companies would wage 90 per cent of the gross Canada collects from the tax.

Canadian and U.S. concern groups, organizations representing U.S. tech giants and American lawmakers person each signed letters successful caller weeks calling for the taxation to beryllium eliminated oregon paused.

It is acceptable to instrumentality effect conscionable weeks earlier a deadline Canada and the U.S. person acceptable for coming up with a caller commercialized deal.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and different organizations person warned retaliatory measures successful a U.S. fund measure could deed Canadians' pension funds and investments.

Champagne said Canada isn't the lone state that could beryllium affected by those retaliatory measures.

"These are discussions astatine the planetary level," helium said successful French.

Champagne said there's a wider treatment going connected among G7 nations astir taxation regimes.

David Pierce, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's vice-president of authorities relations, said successful an earlier interrogation his enactment fears Canada could "aggravate an already precise tricky commercialized discussion" if it goes up with the taxation and the retroactive outgo requirement.

The Liberals archetypal promised the taxation successful the 2019 election, but it was delayed for years owed to planetary efforts to found a broader, multinational integer taxation plan.

Following important delays successful that process astatine the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada went up with its ain tax.