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Trump targets EU over fines
President Donald Trump threatened to investigate the European Union over fines levied against American tech companies and said the U.S. could impose a “substantial TARIFF” in retaliation.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!” while accusing the EU of “robbing American companies and, in turn, the American taxpayer.”
The dispute centers on the EU’s Thursday fine of 890 million euros against Google, which the European Commission said was due to alleged noncompliance with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
The BBC reported that Trump said “any fines should be ‘entirely reversed’” and that he was initiating a trade investigation of the EU while considering “a substantial TARIFF.”
EU, USTR and Google respond
The BBC said José Castañeda, a spokesman for Google, told the outlet the company had “worked hard to comply” with Europe’s Digital Markets Act but had “expressed our concerns about the impact of recent EC decisions.”
In the same BBC account, the White House’s Trade Representative Jamieson Greer criticized the EU action, warning it posed a “real risk to maintaining Transatlantic stability.”
Boursorama, citing AFP, reported that the EU imposed total fines of 890 million euros on Google for competition violations in online search and in the Google Play app store, calling it the highest penalty Brussels had ever handed down under the European Digital Markets Act.
Boursorama also quoted Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission Vice-President in charge of the Digital portfolio, saying the decision aims to “guarantee a level playing field” for all online companies.
Tariffs, lawsuits and stakes
Trump’s threats arrived after the U.S. imposed new duties between 10% and 12.5% on goods from more than 80 countries, including those in the EU, over alleged forced labor issues, and a lawsuit challenging those tariffs was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of two small businesses.
The BBC said Trump’s post claimed Apple had received EU fines of $15bn, Meta fines of $3bn, and Amazon fines of $2.5bn, while Reuters reported the EU fine against Google as part of the broader dispute.
DW reported that Trump said the “penalties will be entirely reveresed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them,” and it also noted that the U.S. threatened a 301 investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Le Figaro added that the White House’s Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had already criticized the decision, saying it posed a “real risk to maintaining transatlantic stability,” while the EU said its digital regulatory framework is not aimed directly at American companies.
