Relations between the EU and the United States were already strained, and the heavy fines imposed on Apple and Meta are not helping matters. The Trump administration sees this as a provocation, ironic given its recent decisions on international trade.
On April 23, the European Union fined Apple €500 million, and another €500 million. €200 million against Meta. The two US giants are accused by the authorities of not respecting the rules established by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These decisions are far from pleasing across the Atlantic, and the Donald Trump government has officially reacted.
“This new form of economic extortion will not be tolerated by the United States”, declared a White House spokesperson, quoted by the press agency Reuters. The chosen words are strong, and suggest an escalation of tensions between the two powers, while the tariff episode has already left its mark. Teresa Ribera, European Commissioner for Competition, is keen to point out, however, that these sanctions are completely independent of the tariff issue. Moreover, the EU has been regularly sanctioning digital platforms for breaching the DMA for years.
An EU-US relationship that risks deteriorating further?
The United States believes that the European DMA discriminates against its companies. The rules imposed by the EU on digital giants are considered a brake on innovation and a censorship tool by the Trump administration, which sees them as “barriers to trade and a direct threat to freedom”. On the business side, Google is one of the biggest opponents of the DMA, and has had to remove several features from its services to comply.
Apple and Meta have 60 days to pay their fine or appeal the decision. Apple is accused of including abusive clauses in its App Store, aimed at undermining competition from third-party app developers and publishers, resulting in a degraded experience for users. Regarding Meta, Mark Zuckerberg's group is being singled out for its handling of the personal data of its European consumers.
0 Comments