EU to continue investigating US tech giants despite Trump's threats - reports

MOSCOW: The European Union will continue investigating the activities of US tech giants such as X, Apple, and Meta (banned in Russia for extremism), despite tariff threats from US President Donald Trump, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported Friday, citing the Financial Times and EU Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera.

AI Brief

Trump warned of tariffs and export restrictions if countries, including the EU, target US tech firms with regulations.
The EU insists it will continue enforcing its digital laws and investigating US tech companies, rejecting US coercion.
Despite tensions, the EU and US have a trade deal involving energy, AI chips, and defense purchases, but regulatory disputes persist.

On Monday, Trump threatened to impose additional import tariffs and export restrictions on all countries that introduce taxes or regulatory restrictions targeting US technology corporations. The Financial Times reported, citing sources involved in EU-US trade negotiations, that Washington insisted on changes to the EU's digital regulations.

The EU will not refrain from conducting investigations into the activities of US tech companies or enforcing its digital regulation regardless of Trump's threats, Ribera told the newspaper, adding that the bloc should "avoid the temptation of being subordinated to others' interests" and not accept any coercive moves by the US.

"We may be kind, polite, try to find ways to solve problems and discrepancies but we cannot accept whatever [the US] demand ... We cannot be subject to the will of a third country," Ribera was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The EU "tried to be nice to see how we could recover a trustful relationship" with the US, Ribera said. However, if Trump undermines this trust by threatening to demand relaxed regulations for major tech companies, "of course we have to stick to the very clear messages and limits that we tried to reflect since the very beginning," she added.

In August, the United States and the European Union announced that they had reached a framework trade agreement. The agreement states that the EU will eliminate tariffs on all US industrial goods, while the US will maintain a 15 per cent tariff on most European goods. Additionally, the EU intends to purchase approximately US$750 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil, and nuclear energy products from the US by 2028, as well as at least US$40 billion worth of US AI chips for its data centers. Additionally, the EU plans to significantly increase its purchases of military and defense equipment from the US.

The European Commission regularly sends complaints to major online platforms, including X and Meta, demanding that they remedy any EU Digital Services Act (DSA) violations that have been identified and threatening to impose penalties or shut down the companies' operations in the bloc.

--BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI