Trump Threatens EU Tariffs to Defend Apple, Google, and Meta

President of the United States Donald Trump (photo: x @atlasinfo)

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump promised to take firm action against the European Union (EU) after the bloc imposed a series of anti-monopoly fines on US technology companies such as Apple, Google, and Meta. Trump called the EU's actions "illegal and highly unethical" and threatened to impose import tariffs in response.

Through a post on the Truth Social platform on Friday local time, Trump said his administration would soon launch an investigation under Section 301 against EU policies that were deemed harmful to American companies.

"The European Union is attacking American companies again. This illegal and discriminatory practice will not continue under my administration," Trump wrote.

He emphasized that the US government would seek to cancel all fines imposed on American technology companies and consider imposing large import tariffs on the European Union.

Trump also accused Europe of treating the United States as a "piggy bank" to obtain income through sanctions against technology companies.

A Series of Giant Technology Fines

Trump's statement comes after the European Union in recent years has stepped up enforcement of its competition rules and Digital Markets Act (DMA) against global technology companies.

Apple was fined 570 million US dollars in 2025 for violating DMA provisions regarding app distribution.

Meta was previously fined US$840 million in 2024 and an additional US$200 million in 2025 for alleged violations of competition and data protection rules.

Meanwhile, Google was just fined 1 billion US dollars this week. Previously, the company also lost an appeal against an Android fine of 4.5 billion US dollars decided by the European Union.

Trump judged all the sanctions to be unfair and specifically targeted US companies.

New Tariffs Looming

Trump's threat is not the first time he has made it to the European Union. Previously, he had also warned that the US would impose tariffs if Brussels continued to target American technology companies through digital regulation and business competition.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) office has also previously opened the opportunity to impose restrictions or additional levies on European services and companies in response to the policy.

On the other hand, Trump continues to make tariffs the main instrument of trade policy in his second term. The general tariff of 10 percent imposed earlier this year has ended, then replaced with a new tariff scheme against dozens of countries.

The Trump administration said the tariffs were imposed on about 60 countries that were deemed to have failed to ban or enforce bans on the import of forced labor goods. The new policy includes products from the United Kingdom, China, the European Union, and a number of other countries.

Analysts assess that if the dispute between Washington and Brussels continues to escalate, the tension has the potential to develop into a new round of the transatlantic trade war. This condition can affect global supply chains, technology industries, and trade relations between the United States and the European Union.