WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on July 24 threatened to hit the European Union with tariffs and a formal trade investigation over Brussels’ latest antitrust penalty against Google.
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.”
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.”
“The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be,” he wrote.
Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act allows Washington to probe foreign practices it deems discriminatory and retaliate with tariffs.
The European Commission on July 23 fined Google €890 million (S$1.3 billion) for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the bloc’s landmark law policing the conduct of dominant online platforms.
It was the first penalty imposed on the company under the legislation.
The Commission issued two separate decisions: a €460 million fine for favouring Google’s own shopping, hotel, transport and sports services in search results, and a €430 million fine over restrictions that stopped app developers from steering users towards cheaper offers outside the Google Play store.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had already criticised the decision on July 23, saying the EU’s enforcement action undermined “constructive dialogue” and posed a “real risk” to transatlantic trade stability.
The conflict tests the trade framework agreed between Washington and Brussels in 2025, which lowered US duties on European cars in exchange for concessions from the bloc.
EU officials have repeatedly insisted that their digital rulebook is not aimed at American firms. AFP
