It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to react strongly to the European fine against Google (see EUROPE 13703/11). On the evening of Friday 5 September, the US President posted a message on his social network ‘Truth Social’, threatening the European Union with reprisals following this decision.
He took offence at the European attack on the company. If the EU does not reverse its decision, he will be “forced” to trigger a mechanism of punitive customs duties, known as a “Section 301”, he said.
“The European Union must stop these practices against American companies IMMEDIATELY”, he insisted.
On Friday 5 September, the European Commission imposed a fine of almost €3 billion on Google for its anti-competitive practices in the field of online advertising (‘Adtech’), by favouring its own ad services to the detriment of those of its competitors (see EUROPE 13201/14).
“This is in addition to the many other fines and taxes that have been imposed on Google and other US tech firms in particular”, Donald Trump added in his message.
“This is very unfair, and American taxpayers will not accept it” he insisted, stating that previous fines imposed on the company were based on “false allegations and accusations”.
For its part, the Commission asserts that this fine is totally “unconnected” with the trade talks with the United States and has not been “postponed” in any way, despite reports in several media (see EUROPE 13700/18). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)