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On January 11th, the French Senate and National Assembly passed a 3% tax that will impact American technology firms such as Google and Facebook. In response, the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the US Office of the Trade Representative will start their own investigation to determine whether the French bill is discriminatory or unreasonable and burdens or restricts US commerce.

An investigation may result in retaliatory tariffs on French goods such as wine, cheese and perfume. In fact, Trump in the past has hinted at placing tariffs on French wine since France places higher tariffs on imports than the US does. CNBC reports France exported $3.6 billion in wine to the US in 2018, making America France’s largest export market.