Trump threatens the EU with a ‘big price’ after Brussels fines Google $1bn | Technology News

The EU is accusing the US tech giant of favoring its services in search results, while Trump is criticizing the bloc.

US President Donald Trump has threatened the European Union with lower tariffs and a new trade probe, saying the bloc will “pay a very heavy price” after Brussels imposes fines. Google $1bn for antitrust violations.

Trump called the sanctions against Google and other US technology companies “grossly disproportionate”, saying on Friday that the US “is not Europe’s ‘PIGGYBANK'”.

“This illegal and deeply racist practice began in the first year of the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, but will not continue in the Trump administration,” he wrote.

The European Commission filed the fine on Thursday, saying that Google violated the Digital Markets Act of the bloc by favoring its services in search results and preventing developers from directing users elsewhere.

The sanctions add strain to US-EU relations at a time when trade tensions between Washington and Brussels appear to have eased.

The regulators said Google offered shopping, navigation and other services more than its competitors, and prevented app developers from directing customers to other services outside of the Play Store.

The EU Commission split the penalty roughly half between the two violations, giving Google 60 days to change its behavior or face a fine of 5 percent of its daily revenue.

Teresa Ribera, the vice-president in charge of the competition management committee, on Thursday said that this is “certain but stable”, saying that things should improve instead of ownership.

Kent Walker, Google’s chief executive, described the decision as a “destruction of resources” led by a minority of plaintiffs, insisting that laws should improve things rather than weaken them.

The EU has repeatedly fined Google since 2017, including a $4.5bn penalty on its Android operating system, which appealed this month, and a $3.4bn in fines last year targeting his marketing business.

The latest sanctions are also raising tensions with Washington.

Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, warned this week that Brussels’ approach to American tech companies could be dangerous. A trade deal has been made in Turnberry, Scotland, last year which raised US tariffs on European goods.

EU officials have pushed back, insisting they are responsible for their own laws rather than outside pressure.

Trump has threatened to launch an investigation under Section 301, the US tool for investigating unfair trade practices, but the move could take months to produce results, even if tariffs are likely to follow soon.