Trump threatens EU over barriers to Big Tech. And on Wednesday he speaks to the nation to boast of an exceptional year
A message on social media from the White House trade office also targets large European companies, from Accenture to Siemens and Spotify. A Section 301 investigation is in sight for retaliation, including new tariffs
The Trump administration is threatening new retaliation, including tariffs, against Europe over the digital tax and other measures it considers restrictive for American Big Tech. The White House trade office, USTR, in a social media post accused the European Union of continuing to resist American demands for retaliation on the regulation of star-studded tech giants, at home benefiting from a climate of drastic deregulation and carte blanche to big business that characterises Trump's second term.
The President, meanwhile, has scheduled a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday in which, he has let it be known, he will claim all the successes of his first year back in power, likely to include the global trade wars, and promise that 'the best is yet to come'.
The USTR has now written a potential new chapter in economic conflicts not only with adversaries but with allied countries. "If the EU and the EU member states insist on continuing to restrict, limit, and hamper the competitiveness of US service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures," the bureau led by protectionist Jamieson Greer announced. Again, "Should such response measures be necessary, US law permits the imposition of penalties or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions.
According to rumours reported by Bloomberg, the administration intends in particular to launch a trade investigation, using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which provides for retaliation, including tariffs, in the event of a determination of discriminatory, unjustified, or harmful conduct by foreign nations against the United States. Among the European brands on which Trump could retaliate are Accenture, Siemens and Spotify. Also mentioned are DHL, SAP, Amadeus, Capogemini, Publicis and Mistaral AI, which, the USTR claims, have had unrestricted access to the US market for years.
Trump has a poisoned tooth with the EU for its interventions in groups such as Elon Musk's empire, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon, from plans on digital taxation and what he calls the failure to meet commitments to 'address unjustified barriers on digital'.
