French lawmakers on Monday approved a new tax on digital giants such as Facebook and Apple that has angered the United States, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire boasting that France was proud to be in the vanguard of such a move.
The United States has urged its NATO ally to drop the plan, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warning last week that it would hurt both the American firms and the French citizens who use the platforms.
The measure was approved by 55 votes against four in the National Assembly, with five abstentions. It will then be put to vote in the Senate, or upper house, before becoming law.
The legislation, dubbed "Gafa" after Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, comes amid rising public outrage at the minimal tax paid by some of the world's richest firms.
"France is honoured to be leading on such subjects," Le Maire told parliament before the vote, saying that the draft constituted a "step... towards a fairer and more efficient taxation for the 21st century."
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