EU Antitrust Battles with American Tech Giants Criticized by President Trump
Davos, Switzerland - President Trump has denounced the antitrust actions taken by the European Union against American tech behemoths, alleging that the hefty fines imposed amount to a form of taxation on US corporations.
In a virtual address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump decried the EU's legal cases against Apple and Google, which have resulted in billions of dollars in penalties. He maintained that these companies are American entities and should not be subject to such actions.
The EU has consistently targeted the dominance of American tech companies. Recent fines include the 13 billion euro penalty levied against Apple for unpaid taxes in Ireland and the 2 billion euro fine against Google for abusing its price comparison tool. Meta has also faced fines for allegedly violating antitrust and data protection laws.
Amazon and Microsoft have also been scrutinized by the EU. Amazon is facing potential fines of $47 billion for antitrust concerns, while Microsoft is under investigation for tying its Teams software to its productivity suites.
While the EU is not the only entity raising antitrust concerns against US tech firms, the US government is also pursuing legal actions. In August, the Department of Justice won a case against Google's search business and signaled its intent to break up the tech giant. The Justice Department has also filed antitrust suits against Apple, Amazon, and Meta.
Despite previous tensions with Big Tech CEOs, Trump's stance has shifted. Prior to the 2024 election, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft donated $1 million each to his inauguration campaign. Additionally, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai attended Trump's inauguration, raising the possibility of a more favorable regulatory environment for tech companies in the coming years.