Flash Briefing: Jooste's reckoning approaches; Zim ends local ownership; France taxes Big Tech; Record US trade deficit

In today’s global business headlines… In a year when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on a range of imports to cut his country’s trade imbalance, the United States posted its largest deficit since 2008. Pressure on the US’s big tech giants rose a notch yesterday as the French government introduced a 3% tax on online advertising and digital marketplace revenues generated in the country. Zimbabwean finance minister Mthuli Ncube, who is on an investment roadshow in the US, yesterday said that the country has scrapped the 51% local ownership rule on platinum mines. In South African news, the day of reckoning drew a little closer yesterday for former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste and his fellow directors.