Trump mulls trade counter after EU hits Google with $3.5B fine

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened major retaliation against the European Union after it issued fines to Google. The bloc charged the tech company, arguing that it exploited its advantage over rivals by favoring its own advertising technology services.

Trump highlighted that the EU has targeted another U.S. company, Google, with a $3.5 billion fine. He argued that the financial demands from the bloc on U.S. companies could otherwise be of better use to American jobs and investments.

Trump accuses the EU of targeting U.S. tech companies with fines

The President said the EU has charged Google’s Alphabet with a total of $16.5 billion, after the company had already settled $13 billion in false claims. He accused the bloc of issuing several fines and taxes against Google and other U.S. tech companies. The bloc’s recent $3.5 billion charge accounts for its highest charges and is also the second-highest against Google for alleged abuses of dominance. 

Trump said the EU’s actions are very unfair, and the U.S. will not condone them. 

According to the President, Apple has also faced a $17 billion fine from the bloc, which he believes should not have been charged. He argued that the tech company should be refunded. 

Trump also warned that he will be forced to introduce a Section 301 proceeding due to the continued fines from Europe to nullify the unfair penalties being charged on U.S. companies.

The U.S. President has previously invoked 301 probes on Brazil targeting its imports in response to the country’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Trump warned earlier this month that he would impose levies on nations that impose digital taxes, rules, or regulations against U.S. organizations.

According to Trump, top U.S. executives raised the issue of digital taxes and fines during a dinner at the White House on Thursday. He told reporters Friday that executives, including Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Meta Platform’s Mark Zuckerberg, all complained about the Commission’s charges.   

EU accuses Google of abusing its digital ads dominance 

The European Commission stated Friday that the U.S. tech giant had abused its dominance in the digital ads market by giving its own ad exchanges a competitive advantage. The Commission also called for an end to the U.S. tech giant’s ad practices.

EU antitrust Commissioner, Teresa Ribera, argued that public entities should push to eliminate dominant players from their power, especially when markets fail. She believes that the space requires a level playing field for every party to compete on equal terms and for citizens to have a right to choose.

Google’s Alphabet plans to petition the EU’s fines. Vice president for regulatory affairs at Google, Lee-Anne Mulholland, argued that the bloc’s claims impose an unjustified fine and would hurt thousands of EU businesses. She stated that the charges would make it hard for businesses in the bloc to generate income. The recent fine has elevated Google’s EU liabilities to roughly 10 billion euros, which is far higher than charges against other U.S. tech giants. 

Research firm EMarketer estimates that the U.S. tech giant will earn about $205.04 million in digital ad revenue in 2025. According to the report, $171.72 billion will come from Google’s global search advertising business. The report also revealed that the remaining $33.33 billion will come from its display ads.

The European Publishers Council argued that the EU’s fine on Google is not enough to fix Europe’s broken adtech market. The council’s executive director, Angela Mills Wade, believes that Google will continue to bear the hits as business costs as it continues to dominate the ads space.

KEY Difference Wire: the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage