The French agriculture minister has said US President Donald Trump's threat to tax French wines was "completely moronic".
Last week, Mr Trump threatened to make the move in retaliation for France's proposal to levy a tax aimed at big US technology companies, known in France as the 'GAFAs' (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple).
President Trump also said US wine was better than French wine.
"It's absurd, in terms of having a political and economic debate, to say that if you tax the 'GAFAs', I'll tax wine. It's completely moronic," Didier Guillaume told BFM TV.
Mr Guillaume also said that "American wine is not better than French wine".
Last week, White House spokesman Judd Deere had said the United States was "extremely disappointed by France’s decision to adopt a digital services tax at the expense of US companies and workers.
"France’s unilateral measure appears to target innovative US technology firms that provide services in distinct sectors of the economy," he said.
Two weeks ago, the French Senate approved the 3% levy that will apply to revenue from digital services earned in France by firms with more than €25 million in French revenue and €750m worldwide.
Other EU countries, including Austria, Britain, Spain and Italy, have also announced plans for their own digital taxes.
They say a levy is needed because big, multinational internet companies such as Facebook and Amazon are currently able to book profits in low-tax countries such as Ireland, no matter where the revenue originates.
Political pressure to respond has been growing as local retailers on main streets and online have been disadvantaged.
The US Chamber of Commerce said the tax "targets US firms almost exclusively and largely spares French companies.
"We have repeatedly urged European governments to address this issue multilaterally in negotiations at the OECD," it said.
