DAVOS (Agefi-Dow Jones)--Les Etats-Unis imposeront des droits de douane à l'Italie et au Royaume-Uni si ces deux pays mettent en place une taxe sur les entreprises du numérique, comme Google et Facebook, a averti mardi le secrétaire américain au Trésor, Steven Mnuchin.

Cet avertissement intervient alors que la France a accepté de reporter l'application de sa propre taxe numérique face aux menaces de droits de douane pesant sur les exportations françaises. Steven Mnuchin a indiqué que le président de la République, Emmanuel Macron, avait accepté de suspendre cette taxe jusqu'à la fin de l'année, afin que Washington et Paris aient le temps de travailler à une résolution permanente de leur différent.

Cette trêve constitue "le début d'une solution", a déclaré le secrétaire au Trésor dans un entretien réalisé dans le cadre d'un événement organisé par le Wall Street Journal à Davos, en marge du Forum économique mondial.

L'Italie et le Royaume ont des projets de taxe numérique similaires à celui de la France. Steven Mnuchin a déclaré espérer que ces pays suspendent leurs projets. "Sinon, ils devront faire face aux droits de douane du président Trump. Nous aurons des discussions similaires avec eux", a-t-il ajouté.

Par ailleurs, le responsable a souligné qu'après l'accord commercial de phase 1 conclu entre les Etats-Unis et la Chine, la phase 2 ne constituerait pas nécessairement un "big bang" qui entraînerait le retrait de tous les droits de douane en vigueur.

Il a ajouté que l'administration Trump proposerait de nouvelles baisses d'impôts à destination de la classe moyenne américaine dans le courant de l'année. "Nous sommes en train de concevoir [ce programme de baisse d'impôts] et nous les déploierons prochainement", a-t-il affirmé. Le président des Etats-Unis doit prononcer son discours annuel sur l'Etat de l'Union au début du mois prochain.

Steven Mnuchin a également indiqué que le déficit budgétaire des Etats-Unis s'établirait autour de 1.000 milliards de dollars au cours des deux prochaines années, en raison des baisses d'impôts prévues et d'une augmentation des dépenses publiques.

-Greg Ip, The Wall Street Journal

(Version française Valérie Venck) ed: ECH

Agefi-Dow Jones The financial newswire

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By Greg Ip

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Italy and Britain will face U.S. tariffs if they proceed with a tax on digital companies such as Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook Inc., U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned.

Mr. Mnuchin issued the warning after France agreed to delay the imposition of its own digital tax in the face of threats of steep U.S. tariffs on French exports. Mr. Mnuchin said French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to hold off on the tax through the end of the year while the two countries work out a permanent resolution.

The truce is "the beginning of a solution," Mr. Mnuchin said an interview with The Wall Street Journal at a Journal-sponsored event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

France announced the tax last year as a way of collecting revenue from web-based companies that pay little or no tax on substantial sales in France. Italy's parliament passed a similar tax last year that was set to take effect this year. Britain is scheduled to implement a similar tax this year.

Mr. Mnuchin said the U.S. was clear it thought France's digital tax was an unfair levy on gross revenue and hoped Britain and Italy would suspend their plans. "If not they'll find themselves faced with President Trump's tariffs. We'll be having similar conversations with them."

Countries working through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently arrived at a plan for apportioning taxes paid by multinational companies on activity that spans borders and isn't easily captured by existing income tax schemes, including digital activity. The U.S. has signaled it objects to the plan but supports a mechanism to resolve global tax disputes that would give multinational companies a safe harbor.

With a "phase one" trade deal with China in place, Mr. Mnuchin said phase two wouldn't necessarily be a "big bang" that removes all existing tariffs. "We may do 2A and some of the tariffs come off. We can do this sequentially along the way."

Mr. Mnuchin also said the Trump administration would propose a new middle-class tax cut later this year. "We are working on what we call tax cut 2.0...which will be additional middle-class tax cuts. We are in the process of designing it and will be rolling it out shortly." Mr. Trump is set to deliver his State of the Union address early next month. The administration's budget is expected to follow shortly afterward.

Mr. Mnuchin said the U.S. would run deficits of about $1 trillion for the next two years, because of some provisions of the tax cut such as expensing of investment, and increased government spending agreed to as part of an agreement with congressional Democrats. But "I'll stick with my projections that the tax deal will pay for itself," he said.

Write to Greg Ip at greg.ip@wsj.com