Washington has no intention of tolerating the European Commission's "new form of economic extortion," which fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for breaches of the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA).
Double standards
In a statement to Reuters, a White House spokesperson stated that "extraterritorial regulations that specifically target American companies, hinder innovation, and facilitate censorship will be considered barriers to trade and a direct threat to a free civil society." This argument is not without merit, given that this same Trump administration is imposing customs surcharges left, right, and centre, including on European companies.
The sanctions could have been even heavier: under the DMA, they can amount to 10% of global turnover. It is "only" 0.1% of revenue for Apple, which is therefore not doing too badly. Beyond the sums involved, what really matters is the obligation to change the commercial practices of the two groups within 60 days.
Teresa Ribera, Vice President of the Commission in charge of Competition, justified the decision of the European executive by the fact that Apple and Meta have implemented measures reinforcing "the dependence of professional users and consumers on their platforms". The regulator has therefore taken "firm but balanced measures to against both companies, based on clear and predictable rules."
One may not like the DMA rules, but the text was discussed for years with the involvement of the main stakeholders, and duly voted on by the different layers of European decision-making. Teresa Ribera's position is therefore intended to be measured, far from the belligerent rhetoric of Washington - or the plaintive tone of Apple, which says it is "unfairly targeted" despite “countless meetings” and “hundreds of thousands of hours of engineering” to comply with the law.
Either way, Apple and Meta will appeal the decision. But that probably won't stop yesterday's announcement from poisoning transatlantic relations a little more: Donald Trump has very clearly targeted Europe in its trade war.
Source: Reuters
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