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Trump has threatened the European Union with steep new tariffs and a trade investigation, vowing the bloc “will pay a very big price” after Brussels fined Google roughly $1 billion for antitrust violations.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: The European Commission hit Google with the 890 million euro penalty on Thursday, ruling that the company broke the EU’s Digital Markets Act, a 2022 law meant to stop the biggest tech platforms from boxing out rivals. Regulators said Google used its dominance as the world’s largest search engine to give preferential placement to its own shopping, travel, and other services while burying competitors. They also said the company blocked Play Store developers from steering users toward cheaper deals elsewhere. Google now has 60 days to comply or it risks recurring fines worth as much as 5% of its average daily turnover. This isn’t Google’s first rodeo with the EU, which has hit the company with more than 10 billion euros in fines since 2017, including a $4.5 billion penalty over Android upheld on appeal this month.
What’s going on now: In a Truth Social post, Trump cast the fine as a targeted assault on American companies and promised retaliation. “The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about,” he wrote, adding that “we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment.”
He said the US would “immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of ‘ROBBING’ American Companies,” referring to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. He added, “The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!”
The threat puts a fragile trade truce at risk. Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a deal last fall capping US tariffs on EU exports at 15%. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer warned this week that Brussels’ approach to American tech could unravel that deal. A separate round of tariffs the White House rolled out Thursday stayed within the agreement, setting the EU rate at 10 percent, but Trump’s post signals the calm may not hold.
EU officials responded that they take direction from their own laws, not from the US. One official said the Google fine was announced simply because it was ready, not timed to any US trade move, and should not have surprised Trump. Competition chief Teresa Ribera called the action “decisive yet balanced,” arguing that “the best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine.”
Google, for its part, welcomed Trump stepping in on its behalf. General counsel Kent Walker said the ruling amounts to “product degradation” rather than fair competition, and a company spokesperson said the company appreciated “the engagement by the administration and U.S. government.”
