President Donald Trump has escalated trade tensions with the European Union, threatening to impose steep tariffs after the European Commission fined Google €890 million ($1 billion) for breaching the bloc's Digital Markets Act. In a post on his Truth Social platform Friday, Trump said the EU "will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct" and announced plans to launch a 301 investigation into the bloc's treatment of American companies.
The European Commission issued two separate decisions against Alphabet's Google: a €460 million fine for favoring its own shopping, hotel, transport, and sports services in search results, and a €430 million fine for restricting app developers from steering users toward cheaper alternatives outside the Google Play store. The penalties represent the first major enforcement action under the EU's landmark digital competition law.
Trump called the fines "ROBBING" of American companies and said the United States "is not a 'PIGGYBANK' for Europe." The U.S. president said he anticipates a "substantial TARIFF" on the bloc at the earliest possible moment, adding renewed strain to U.S.-EU relations that had recently shown signs of improvement on trade matters.
The dispute comes at a delicate time as Washington and Brussels navigate a complex trade landscape. The Section 301 investigation — the same tool Trump used during his first term to justify tariffs on Chinese goods — could lead to tariffs or other penalties against EU imports, potentially impacting billions of dollars in transatlantic trade.