Trump threatens EU with tariff investigation after Google hit with $3.45 billion antitrust fine
By David Goldman and Reuters
(Reuters) — President Donald Trump on Friday threatened the European Union with an investigation that could lead to higher tariffs, after the EU fined Google billions of dollars for violating its antitrust laws.
The EU announced earlier Friday that Google must pay a €2.95 billion ($3.45 billion) antitrust fine for anti-competitive practices in its lucrative ad tech business, marking its fourth penalty in its decade long fight with EU competition regulators.
Trump on Friday criticized the EU’s fine, saying in a Truth Social post that the money Google will be forced to pay “would otherwise go to American Investments and Jobs.”
“This is on top of the many other Fines and Taxes that have been issued against Google and other American Tech Companies, in particular,” Trump added. “Very unfair, and the American Taxpayer will not stand for it!”
Trump said his administration may launch a Section 301 investigation against the EU in retaliation, a procedural measure that could lead to retaliatory tariffs. That could serve as a big blow to the EU, which landed a hard-fought but controversial trade framework with the United States over the summer.
Although the 27 members of the bloc voted in favor of the framework, many European leaders have since griped about it, and a long-term trade deal between the United States is far from a certainty.
Nevertheless, the fine is an aggressive move on the part of the European Commission, the EU’s top tech regulator, after Trump had previously threatened retaliation for future fines against US tech companies. The administration has griped about the large fines that the EU has levied as a result of their privacy laws and antitrust laws that are significantly more stringent and enforced more frequently in Europe than in the United States.
“Google has also paid, in the past, $13 Billion Dollars in false claims and charges for a total of $16.5 Billion Dollars,” Trump said in a follow-up post Friday. “How crazy is that? The European Union must stop this practice against American Companies, IMMEDIATELY!”
Google’s big fine
The move by the European Commission was triggered by a complaint from the European Publishers Council.
The EU competition enforcer had originally planned to hand out the fine on Monday but opposition from EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic on concerns about the impact on U.S. tariffs on European cars derailed EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera’s plan.
The Commission said Google favored its own online display technology services to the detriment of rivals and online publishers and that it abused its market power since 2014 until today.
It ordered Google to stop the self-preferencing practices and take measures to cease its inherent conflicts of interest. The company has 60 days to inform the Commission how it plans to comply with this order.
The Commission reiterated its preliminary view that Google should divest part of its services but said it wants to first hear and assess Google’s compliance efforts.
“Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest, and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies,” Ribera said in a statement.
“Digital markets exist to serve people and must be grounded in trust and fairness. And when markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power,” she said.
Google criticized the EU decision and said it would challenge it in court.
“The European Commission’s decision about our ad tech services is wrong and we will appeal. It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, said in a statement.
“There’s nothing anticompetitive in providing services for ad buyers and sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever before.”
The latest fine compared with a record 4.3 billion euro penalty handed out to Google in 2018, 2.42 billion euros in 2017 and a 1.49 billion euros in 2019.
Reuters reported last week that the fine would be modest, marking a change in Ribera’s approach with her predecessor’s deterrent hefty fines.
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