Trump opens trade investigation into EU over tech fines

Probe targets billions in penalties on Google, Apple, Meta

President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States will open a formal trade investigation into the European Union, accusing the bloc of unfairly levying billions of dollars in fines against Google, Apple and other U.S. technology companies.

Trump’s announcement follows the European Union’s decision to fine Google 890 million euros, or about $1 billion, the previous day for violating digital antitrust regulations. The EU found that Google had used its Google Play store and search engine to steer consumers toward its own services and apps, to the detriment of competitors, according to the regulatory decision.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump said he had repeatedly warned the EU about its practice of fining U.S. tech companies. He named Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon among the targeted firms.

“The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!” Trump said. He added that his post should serve as notice of an immediate trade investigation “into the practice of ‘ROBBING’ American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer.”

Trump said the probe would be conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, referring to his social media post in which he wrote, “We will immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of ‘ROBBING’ American Companies.” He argued the bloc had been “illegally” fining U.S. firms.

“The days of the United States silently watching as our great companies are forced to pay billions of dollars to Europe for the crime of being successful are over,” Trump wrote.

The European Commission had fined Google €890 million after determining the company broke digital antitrust regulations by designing its Android app store and search engine to push consumers toward Google’s own products. The penalty was the latest in a series of EU antitrust actions against American technology firms that have totaled billions of euros in recent years.

U.S. lawmakers had recently urged Trump to act against EU tech rules, including launching trade investigations, saying that EU digital policies unfairly target U.S. Big Tech, according to Reuters. The White House is expected to release more details on the trade investigation in the coming days, according to the AP report.