MANILA, Philippines — Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the government has neither discussed nor considered granting exemptions for United States technology firms from the Philippines’ newly implemented digital services tax, despite threats of retaliatory tariffs from President Donald Trump.

“We don’t even know how serious they are on any of that. There have been no communications to us. So there’s nothing to communicate,” Recto told reporters on the sidelines of the Senate hearingon Tuesday, stressing that exemptions for American companies are not yet on the table.

Trump recently warned that countries imposing digital taxes on US technology firms would face “substantial additional tariffs” on exports to the US, along with possible export restrictions on “highly protected technology and chips.”

Recto: No exemption for US tech firms from digital tax

The Philippines began enforcing its digital tax law in June, which subjects nonresident digital service providers such as Netflix, Amazon, and Google to the country’s 12-percent value-added tax (VAT)., This news data comes from:http://www.redcanaco.com