Is it protectionist to ask US companies to pay tax and abide by our laws. Perhaps you could provide us with examples of French companies operating in the US that are breaking the law, not paying tax and getting away with it? Could I start a US chain of Jimnotgyms tomorrow and avoid tax by a dodgy brand license deal? I don't think so.

US tech companies (and in many cases the US government) have been operating as if the national laws of the rest of the world are sub-ordinate to theirs, or just in the way. Succesive UK governments have turned a blind eye due to the Special Relationship. However things are starting to catch up in the EU. There has been a distinct change in opinion towards the US in Europe I have detected. Bush jnr made the US look sub-intellectual, Obama made it seem inward-looking. I don't know anyone in Europe who thinks Trump is anything more than a deeply cynical character. People don't see the US as the land of opportunity and commerce anymore. They see it as self-serving and insular.

Great empires all come to an end. It takes time, but this one is in decline.