Trump says U.S. to launch trade probe into EU fines of tech firms

Investing.com -- President Donald Trump said Friday the United States will start a Section 301 Investigation into the European Union's practice of fining American technology companies after Google received another penalty from the bloc.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that the EU is "taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies" and called the practice "illegal and highly discriminatory."

"After having fined Apple, for no reason at all, 15 Billion Dollars, Meta, 3 Billion Dollars, Amazon 2.5 Billion Dollars, and many others, we have just been informed that Google, a truly advanced and amazing group, has been fined yet another 1 Billion Dollars, without explanation," Trump wrote. "This brings the Google total to over 18 Billion Dollars!"

The president said the United States "is not a 'PIGGYBANK' for Europe, nor will we allow it to be."

Trump said his administration will "immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of 'ROBBING' American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer."

"The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about," Trump wrote. "The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment."

Thursday, the European Commission fined Google €460 million for giving preferential treatment to its own services in search results and €430 million for restricting businesses from directing consumers to alternative purchase channels on Google Play.

Other notable EU recent penalties include a €120 million fine on X in December 2025 for failing to meet transparency obligations, a €2.95 billion fine on Google in September 2025 for anti-competitive practices in advertising technology, a €500 million penalty on Apple in April 2025 for failing to comply with anti-steering rules in music streaming, and a €200 million fine on Meta Platforms in April 2025 for its tracking model.

A Section 301 investigation is a U.S. legal mechanism used to examine and respond to foreign government practices that violate trade agreements or burden U.S. commerce. The tool grants the executive branch authority to impose trade sanctions, including tariffs, to pressure foreign nations to remove unfair trade barriers.

You May Also Be Interested In

• U.S. officials have told CBS News that there are no "new" or novel negotiations planned
• Citi hired Bank of America's Rohan Sen to lead technology services banking - Reuters
• Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca said to discuss megamerger - can it happen?