Donald Trump has vowed to launch a trade investigation into the European Union and threatened a “substantial TARIFF” after the bloc fined Google €890m ($1bn) for anti-competitive behaviour. In a furious post on Truth Social, the US president said the EU would pay a “very big price” and demanded the fine be “entirely reversed”.
The European Commission imposed the penalty days ago for operating in a way that squeezed out competitors to Google’s services. Trump’s post accused regulators of “robbing American companies” and said the US would “immediately initiate a 301 investigation” – a tool under the Trade Act of 1974 that allows Washington to respond to unfair trade practices.
“Trump vows EU probe and tariff over $1bn Google fine, escalating US-EU tech tensions.”
The tariff threat came just one day after Trump announced fresh levies on 60 trading partners, including the EU, the UK and China, ranging from 10% to 12.5%. He also previously threatened a 100% import tariff on any European country that introduces a digital services tax on US tech giants, despite many such nations already doing so for years.
Google, whose parent company donated millions to Trump’s campaign, sought to strike a conciliatory tone. José Castañeda, a spokesman, told the BBC the company had “worked hard to comply” with Europe’s Digital Markets Act but “expressed our concerns about the impact of recent EC decisions”. He added: “We appreciate the engagement by the administration and US government.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump also claimed Apple had received EU fines of $15bn, Meta fines of $3bn and Amazon fines of $2.5bn – though it was not clear where those figures came from. Representatives of those companies, along with the European Commission, did not immediately comment.
Shortly before Trump was elected in 2024, he said Apple chief executive Tim Cook had called him directly to complain about European fines. The call came after Apple lost a long-running dispute over unpaid taxes. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has faced multiple penalties.
The escalating row signals a dramatic clash between Washington and Brussels over the regulation of big tech, with Trump’s rhetoric and readiness to use tariffs raising the stakes for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.