After EU's fine ruling, Trump says he may “be forced” to start a trade investigation to nullify the unfair fines, totaling $16.5B for Google and $17B for Apple

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CNBC 2025-09-06 Kevin Breuninger

Context & Ripple Effects

The statement lands amid a widening clash between EU digital enforcement and U.S. political support for major American platforms. Earlier, the Commission imposed DMA penalties and compliance orders on Apple and Meta, which both said they would challenge in court: the EU's Apple and Meta DMA enforcement.

Google’s ad-tech case added a more structural remedy to the dispute, with the EU outlining a preliminary view that parts of its ad-tech business may need to be divested: the EU's proposed ad-tech remedy for Google. Reporting also indicated concern that enforcement could disrupt broader EU-U.S. trade progress: a delayed Google decision amid trade concerns.

First-order effects

Google and Apple gain a prominent U.S. political advocate against the EU penalties, while the companies’ underlying EU legal and regulatory obligations remain in place absent any formal U.S. action.
The threat puts EU enforcement officials and the companies’ cross-border policy teams on notice that the cases may be contested through trade channels as well as regulatory and judicial ones.

Second-order effects

EU competition and digital-policy decisions involving U.S. platforms could face greater diplomatic scrutiny, making enforcement timing and remedies more consequential for EU-U.S. trade talks.
Other large U.S. platforms facing EU scrutiny may have stronger incentives to align legal appeals and policy advocacy with a U.S. trade response.

Third-order effects

If trade tools are repeatedly used to challenge platform regulation, digital antitrust and platform rules could become a durable bilateral trade issue rather than primarily a domestic enforcement matter.
That would raise the cost of divergent U.S. and EU tech rules: remedies designed to alter platform business models could increasingly trigger government-to-government retaliation or negotiation.

The trend: Big Tech regulation is increasingly being reframed as a trade-policy conflict between jurisdictions, not solely a competition or platform-governance matter.

Discussion

@theodyllicstone Alex Scheuermann on bluesky
Good news everyone. Anthropic lost the lawsuit where they stole your books to use in their AI training. You may be entitled to $3000 per work stolen. — No word on how to file a claim yet. — www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
@mckennadean @mckennadean on bluesky
None of my stolen works qualified because copyrights weren't filed. Lesson learned moving forward. — I'll file copyrights on the titles I own now, but it's too late for *this* lawsuit. — I hope everyone keeps suing the crap out of these companies, though.
@alexandrageese Alexandra Geese on bluesky
The multibillion fine against Google proves that the EU can act. Google's ad monopoly bleeds media dry. This ruling is only the first crack in Google's monopoly in the ad tech market — but it sends a signal far beyond Europe. — Next step: structural remedies! — www.politico…
@peoplevsbigtech @peoplevsbigtech on bluesky
Google's monopoly power rips off consumers, pollutes our information environment, and destroys the news media. — Today's €2.95 billion fine is a start, but won't touch Google's toxic ad-tech monopoly. The EU @ec.europa.eu must hold firm and now break up Google. www.politico.eu…
r/apple r on reddit
Trump threatens trade probe after ‘discriminatory’ EU fines against Google, Apple
r/technology r on reddit
Trump threatens trade probe after ‘discriminatory’ EU fines against Google, Apple
r/worldnews r on reddit
Trump threatens trade probe after ‘discriminatory’ EU fines against Google, Apple
r/europeanunion r on reddit
EU slaps Google with €2.95B fine despite Trump trade threat
r/neoliberal r on reddit
EU slaps Google with €2.95B fine despite Trump trade threat
@trumpdailyposts @trumpdailyposts on x
In addition to my previously posted TRUTH concerning Google, please let this Statement serve to represent that Google has also paid, in the past, $13 Billion Dollars in false claims and charges for a total of $16.5 Billion Dollars. How crazy is that? The European Union must sto…
@trumpdailyposts @trumpdailyposts on x
Europe today “hit” another great American company, Google, with a $3.5 Billion Dollar fine, effectively taking money that 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…
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
It seems likely to me that Trump will characterize the EU's fine against Google as a tariff and reciprocate. [image]
@mmcassella Megan Cassella on x
With his IEEPA tariff powers in jeopardy, Trump is now threatening to use a different trade tool, known as Section 301, to push back on the EU over its fines on Google and other U.S. tech companies. Would require an investigation, but could lead to steep new tariffs on the EU. [i…
@jorgeliboreiro Jorge Liboreiro on x
🚨 Just in: the European Commission has slapped a €2.95 billion fine on Google for breaching EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry #adtech. The fine comes amid Trump's tariff threats against countries that regulate Big Tech.
@teroterotero Tero Kuittinen on x
Woahhh Europe slams Google with a big fine just as the CEO is cuddling with Trump in White House and Trump is seething with rage due to Putin/Xi humiliation... this is a psychologically explosive situation.
@parismarx.com Paris Marx on bluesky
The European Union should fine another tech company a few billion dollars every time Trump threatens them with higher tariffs.
@tcobserver12 Teresa Eder on bluesky
Trump uses US Big Tech to undermine European digital sovereignty. The hidden motive is to increase the power and visibility of his far-right allies in Europe. — www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
@rustybrick.com Barry Schwartz on bluesky
Can the EU do what the US could not? [embedded post]
@avandeursen@mastodon.acm.org Arie van Deursen on mastodon
> the only way for Google to end its conflict of interest effectively is with a structural remedy, such as selling some part of its Adtech business. — > A US Federal Court recently upheld the main claims of a Department of Justice complaint against Google, which closely mirrore…
r/EU_Economics r on reddit
Trump threatens more tariffs after EU fines Google €2.95B
r/europeanunion r on reddit
Trump threatens retaliation against EU over Google fine - Euractiv
r/technology r on reddit
Google Fined $3.5 Billion by EU Over Ad-Tech Business

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