The Trade War With The Us Is Not Yet Causing Europe to Ease its Strict Rules for Big Tech. In fact, European Fines for American Companies Continue to Trickle. The eu says it does not want to negotiate, but how firm is that position?
In The United States, They Are, to Say the Least, Not A Fan of the European Regulatory Zeal that Increasingly Leads to Fines. The white house calls the fines a form of economic blackmail. A Spokesperson Told Reuters that “It will not be tolerated by the US” If Europe Continues.
But Europe is continuing. This Week, Apple was 1100 Million Euros and Meta 200 Million euros. These were the first fines under the brand new digital markets act, a European law created to curb the power of large tech companies and protect consumers.
The American Government Claims That the Rules Are Specifically Aimed at American Companies to Stop Innovation and Apply Censorship. The White House Spokesperson Speaks of “A Direct Threat To Free Democracy.”
In practice, American Tech Companies are indeed or the Victim of the rules, because they are so dominant. Time and again, American Tech Companies Have Been Hit With High Fines in Recent Years for Not Complying With Eu Rules. For Example, Google had to pay 2.4 Billion Euros for ABUSE of Power and Meta Was Versed 1.2 Billion Euros for Illegal Data Transfer of Europeans to the US.
EU Rules are not negotiable
Yet the laws are not specifically aimed at companies from the us. At Their Core, They Form Rules of the Game About How Companies Should Behave in Europe. That is why European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Sees No Point in Weekening Things.
The European Rules are Therefore the Only Thing That The Americans Cannot Tamper With Duration Negotiations on the Trade War that Trump Has Unleashed in recent months, Von der Leyen Told the Financial Times . “These rules are not in the negotiation packages because it is our owneign policy.”
Sector Economist Diederik Stadig or ING Finds It Difficult to Determine Whether von der Leyen Can Completely Stick To That When Push Comes to Shove. “Under pressure, Everything Becomes Liquid,” He says. If big tech companies get Involved in the Negotiations, Things Could Get Exciting.
“Trump’s import Duties are only about goods, while the EU Could Respond with a Levy on Digital Services,” Says Stadig. “That would be a significant escalation and both parties don’t seem to want that at the moment.”
Not Entirely Separate from Trade War
The Imposition of Fines for Apple and Meta is Seen by Analysts as a Development That Could Fuel Tensions Between Brussels and the US. Trump PreviOutly Threatesed to Impose Higher Tariffs on Countries That Punish American Companies.
It is Therefore Difficult to Complety Separate the Timing of these Fines from the Simmering Trade War, Although the European Commission’s Decision had Been in the Works for Much Longer and the Amount of the Fines Is Still somehat Reasonable.
Chairman Anna Cavazzini of the Parliamentary Committee for Consumer Protection is pleased that the EU is simply implementation the fines and has not postponed the decision because of the trade war. Because accordance to her, that would give the impression that “the eu is being blackmailed by Trump’s threats.”