Bessent says he asked lawmakers to remove tax proposal from US budget bill

(Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that he has asked the Senate and the House to remove a tax proposal known as Section 899 from the budget bill after an agreement with other countries.

Section 899 is currently part of Trump’s tax-cut and spending bill, and would have enabled the U.S. president to retaliate against countries that impose special digital service taxes on large U.S. technology companies that he considers unfair.

“After months of productive dialogue with other countries on the OECD Global Tax Deal, we will announce a joint understanding among G7 countries that defends American interests,” Bessent said in a post on X.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya;)