EU to pay ‘very big price’ for Google fine, says Trump

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US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to hit the European Union with tariffs and a formal trade investigation over Brussels’ latest antitrust penalty against Google.

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In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the bloc “will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about.”

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He said he would “immediately initiate a 301 Investigation” into what he called the EU’s practice of “ROBBING” American companies, and said he anticipated a “substantial TARIFF” on the bloc “at the earliest possible moment.”

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“The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be,” he wrote.

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Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act allows Washington to probe foreign practices it deems discriminatory and retaliate with tariffs.

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The European Commission on Thursday fined Google 890 million euros ($1 billion) for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the bloc’s landmark law policing the conduct of dominant online platforms.

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It was the first penalty imposed on the company under the legislation.

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The Commission issued two separate decisions: a 460-million-euro fine for favoring Google’s own shopping, hotel, transport and sports services in search results, and a 430-million-euro fine over restrictions that stopped app developers from steering users toward cheaper offers outside the Google Play store.

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US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had already criticized the decision on Thursday, saying the EU’s enforcement action undermined “constructive dialogue” and posed a “real risk” to transatlantic trade stability.

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The conflict tests the trade framework agreed between Washington and Brussels last year, which lowered US duties on European cars in exchange for concessions from the bloc.

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EU officials have repeatedly insisted that their digital rulebook is not aimed at American firms.

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AFP

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