Twenty-four hours after the fines imposed by the European Commission on Apple and Meta for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (see EUROPE 13626/2), reactions remain relatively muted.
While a strong response from Washington was expected, the US administration has been unusually quiet.
In Brussels, the Commission’s decision was welcomed by both consumer and developer associations. The European Publishers Council (EPC) has described it as a “strong statement against Apple”, while the Coalition for App Fairness is delighted that the firm’s “illegal and harmful behaviour” has finally been subject to European regulations.
On the other side of the Atlantic, criticism is scathing. The CCIA, which represents the information and communications technology industries and whose members are predominantly American, criticised the Commission for the “opaque and discretionary application of the DMA, lacking both predictability and proportionality”.
In a statement, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s head of international affairs, said that the Commission was “trying to handicap successful American companies” while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate to different standards.
“It’s not just about a fine”, he said. “The Commission, which is forcing us to change our business model, is in effect imposing a tariff of several billion dollars on Meta, while forcing us to offer an inferior service”.
Despite the American narrative which, until recently, described the European legislation as a disguised tariff attack on the United States (see EUROPE 13577/12), there has been little reaction so far from the Trump administration.
According to Reuters on Wednesday evening, the White House described the fines as a “new form of economic extortion” that the United States would not tolerate.
“Extraterritorial regulations that specifically target US companies, stifle innovation and allow censorship will be seen as barriers to trade and a direct threat to free civil society”, the news agency reported, citing a government spokesperson.
Since the re-election of Donald Trump, Washington has stepped up its warnings about European legislation. In February, in Paris, Vice-President J.D. Vance denounced a foreign desire to “tighten the screws” on American companies, asserting that the United States would not accept it. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)