White House: US Will Not Tolerance European Union Fines Against Apple

JAKARTA The United States government condemned the European Union's decision to fine Apple and Meta. The White House called the action a form of "economic experience" and stated that the Digital Markets Act (DMA) was discriminatory.

A fine against Apple of 570 million US dollars was given for alleged non-compliance with DMA rules. However, previous reports stated that the amount of the fine was well below the maximum limit permitted by the law, due to concerns the European Union wanted to ease tensions with former President Donald Trump. Even so, Trump has not made official comments regarding this latest fine, in addition to his 2024 statement stating that he will not allow the European Union to "use" American companies.

But according to a report from Reuters quoted by VOI, the White House is now openly responding to the move.

"The new form of economic extortion like this will not be tolerated by the United States," said a White House spokesman. "Extrateritrial regulation specifically targets and weakens American companies, hinders innovation, and allows censorship, we will consider as trade barriers and direct threats to free civilians."

The White House also confirmed that the DMA is discriminatory. In this case, the European Union accuses Apple of not fulfilling its obligations to App Store developers, particularly regarding user access to alternative sources of purchases outside Apple's ecosystem.

The head of the European Union's new antitrust,original Ribera,stated that Apple and Meta "failed to meet standards." He added that this fine was a "strong and clear message" and stated that the DMA was designed to protect European consumers.

Apple has declared an appeal against the fine. Previously, some considered that the European Union's decision was often seen favoring European companies, such as Spotify, in disputes with Apple Music.

Until now, neither Apple nor the European Union have responded to the White House's statement. It is not clear what steps the next US government will take. However, with fines due within 60 days of the decision announced, trade tensions between the United States and Europe are predicted to continue to heat up.

The European Union previously called the "reciprocal" tariff imposed by Trump a form of bullying and insisted it would not back down from its fine policy against Apple.