French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has responded angrily to the US withdrawal,warning Paris would go ahead with its own tax.

"Whatever happens,we will apply the tax on digital giants in 2020,as it’s a question of justice,"he told French media. Le Maire agreed with the argument advanced by many economists that the tax was even more justified now because government budgets were under strain from the coronavirus pandemic and the digital economy was performing much better than most during the crisis.

OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria said the absence of a"multilateral solution"meant more countries would craft unilateral measures and"those that have them already may no longer continue to hold them back".

Gurria said:"This,in turn,would trigger tax disputes and,inevitably,heightened trade tensions. A trade war,especially at this point in time,where the world economy is going through a historical downturn,would hurt the economy,jobs and confidence even further."

Behind the scenes though,Macron is still scrambling to salvage an international agreement. France,Britain,Italy and Spain have fired off a letter to US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin,floating a compromise that narrows the scope of the proposed tax.

Trump has few reasons to accept the compromise offer. He will most likely refuse it and then use a transatlantic trade war to breathe some life into his flagging re-election bid.