On October 8, 2021, a "landmark" deal was reached
amongst more than 130 countries where the broad contours of Two
Pillar Solution to Address the Tax Challenges arising from the
Digitization of the Economy was finalised ("October
Statement").
The key impetus of these global negotiations was to stop digital
services taxes from being imposed by different countries
unilaterally. In keeping with this objective, on October 21, a
Joint Statement was issued between US and Austria, France, Italy,
Spain, and United Kingdom ("Unilateral Measures
Compromise"). An interim measure was agreed between these
countries as regards withdrawal of "Unilateral Measures"
and a commitment from the US for not initiating any trade action
under Section 301.
