European Union

The region with the highest taxes in the world is weighing how to use them in the fight against climate change.

European finance chiefs arrived at a meeting of their global peers in Riyadh demanding the urgent creation of a new global tax system for the 21st century that would capture the profits of tech multinationals. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin responded: it’s not that simple.

The threat of a new transatlantic trade war diminished after 137 countries agreed to continue negotiations aimed at creating rules for taxing multinational technology companies that receive foreign revenue.

Apple Inc. reduced a massive back tax bill it must pay Ireland after other governments claimed a slice of the payment last year, according to regulatory filings.

Even as France indicated a willingness to postpone a disputed tax on technology companies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dangled the prospect of retaliatory tariffs on automobile imports if the issue isn’t resolved.

Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump agreed to a truce in their dispute over digital taxes that will mean neither France nor the U.S. will impose punitive tariffs this year.

The iPhone maker told a European Union court it was unfairly painted as a tax dodger as it sought to topple a massive EU back-tax bill.

Apple fights the world’s biggest tax case in a quiet courtroom this week, trying to rein in the European Union’s powerful antitrust chief.

European Union finance ministers agreed to add 10 countries to a blacklist of alleged tax havens, including the United Arab Emirates and Bermuda, despite last-minute push-back by some EU nations.

The European Union is on course to hand dozens of U.K.-based companies a pre-Brexit tax bombshell, according to people familiar with a state-aid probe that could lead to bills exceeding 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion).