US President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on goods from the European Union in response to a 1 billion dollar (890 million euros) fine levied against Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc..
In a social media post on Friday, the president announced that the US will initiate a trade investigation “into the practice of ‘ROBBING’ American companies and, accordingly, American taxpayers”. Trump added: “The fines will be completely canceled, and we expect a significant TARIFF to be imposed on them as soon as possible”.
Investigation under Section 301 and previous tariffs
Trump stated that his administration will conduct an investigation under Section 301 of the US Trade Act. He claimed this mechanism will help restore tariff policy following a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that partially limited the administration’s ability to impose tariffs. The president has repeatedly threatened tariffs on the US‘s largest trading partners, implementing some of these threats while abandoning others.
This statement followed Trump’s decision to impose tariffs of at least 10% on goods from approximately 60 trading partners, including the EU, citing the need to curb imports of products made using forced labor. These tariffs, also imposed under Section 301, do not exceed 10% for many goods from the EU. Last year, the US and the EU reached an agreement that capped American tariffs on most imports from the bloc at 15%.
Criticism of the regulation of technology giants
Trump has long criticized the EU’s regulatory policies towards American technology companies, arguing they are unfair. In his post, he also referenced cases against Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., labeling such fines “illegal and extremely discriminatory practices”.
The European Union fined Google on Thursday for violating the Digital Markets Act, stating that the company unfairly favored its own search services and prohibited app developers from directing users to offers outside the Play Store.
Source: Bloomberg
