So it was something of a surprise to see the US president, this week, apparently riding to the rescue of Silicon Valley.

所以令人有點驚訝的是，美國總統這週前往拯救矽谷。

He instructed his top US trade official to start an investigation into France's plans to raise a 3 per cent tax against the revenue of large international technology companies.

他下令美國貿易官員開始調查法國提高大型國際科技公司 3% 稅收的計畫。

Emmanuel Macron has championed this tax as a way of getting these companies to pay what he says is their fair share in France, rather than in offshore tax havens.

馬克宏支持並認為此稅與公司在法國的市場佔有率成正比，而不是享有海外減稅的優惠。

The companies themselves say they're being unfairly targeted.

公司紛紛提出被不公平針對的疑慮。

And warn that they could end up paying tax on the same transaction twice in two different countries.

也提出警告，聲稱能拒絕同筆交易上因國家不同而付兩次稅的政策。

The US and France now have 12 to 18 months to try and come up with some kind of negotiated settlement.

現在美國和法國有十二到十八個月的磨合期，以協商解決方案。

The US could, for example, issue tax credits against the additional levies being paid by American companies in France.

美國可以發放稅額減免，以抵制在法美商多付的額外稅款。

But the US Treasury is unlikely to want to give up on its own lucrative revenue streams.

美國財政部不太可能放棄豐厚的收益來源。

If there is no agreement reached in that time, there is the possibility that the US could raise retaliatory tariffs against French goods.

如果到時沒有達成共識，美國可能會報復性地對法國的商品提高關稅。

Sources tell me that officials have been looking at ways to target French wine, for example, or cars.

有消息指出官員正鎖定法國紅酒，或是法國進口車。

For the US technology companies themselves this would be the worst of all worlds.

對美國的科技公司來說，情況不能再更糟了。

Not only would it make it less likely that France would back down, but it could even spark a US-France trade war, which would harm business for everybody.

因為法國不太可能中途放棄，美法之間的貿易戰可能就此開打，這會造成大家商業交易上的傷害。