Trump opens a divide between US and EU over Big Tech

Posted by author January 23, 2025 Tech

President Trump on Thursday called out the European Union for its antitrust battles with American tech giants, saying the billions of dollars in fines they’ve levied against US companies amount to a tax on American corporations.

Trump made the comments during a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, during which he laid out plans for his second term and took questions from the likes of Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan and Santander’s Ana Botín.

“They took court cases with Apple, and they supposedly won a case that most people didn’t think was much of a case, they won $15 billion or $16 billion from Apple. They won billions from Google. I think they’re after Facebook for billions and billions,” Trump said about the bloc’s regulators.

“These are American companies, whether you like them or not, they are American companies, and they shouldn’t be doing that. And as far as I’m concerned, it’s a form of taxation,” he added.

The EU has been aggressively tackling the power of American tech companies for years. Most recently, the bloc fined Apple (AAPL) 13 billion euros over back taxes owed to Ireland. The fee hit Apple’s bottom line in Q4, pulling lower its earnings per share from $1.64 to $0.97.

In March 2024, the EU fined Apple $2 billion as part of the company’s long-running battle with Spotify for allegedly “abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps.”

European Commissioner for Europe fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager speaks during a media conference regarding an antitrust case against Google Adtech at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

Google (GOOG, GOOGL) lost a legal battle with the EU in September, forcing the company to pay $2.7 billion for using its price comparison tool to disadvantage European services. Google also continues to fight a 2011 antitrust case over its Android operating system, which the EU says the company uses to impose “illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to cement its dominant position in general internet search.”

In November, the EU fined Meta (META) 797 million euros over claims that it breached antitrust rules through its Facebook Marketplace service. The bloc also fined Meta $1.3 billion in 2023 over claims that it violated data protection rules in the region.

Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) haven’t escaped the EU’s sights, either. The collection of European economies threatened Amazon with antitrust fines of $47 billion, forcing the company to change its business practices in the EU. The regulator recently issued a statement of objections to Microsoft over its decision to tie its Teams software to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 productivity suites.

The EU isn’t the only government body taking issue with US tech firms. The US is also battling Big Tech in the courtroom over dozens of alleged antitrust violations.

After winning a landmark antitrust case against Google’s search business in August, the Department of Justice in November signaled it wanted to break up the tech giant. Google is appealing the decision.

The DOJ has also filed an antitrust suit against Apple, alleging that it operates as an illegal monopoly by making it difficult for customers to switch from iPhone to competing devices and putting restrictions on app developers and app distribution.

UNITED STATES - MAY 15: FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan testifies during the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing titled — Former-FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan filed antitrust suits against Meta and Amazon. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) · Tom Williams via Getty Images

The Federal Trade Commission has also filed antitrust lawsuits against Amazon and Meta. In the Amazon suit, the FTC alleges the e-commerce retailer wields its enormous power to disadvantage other retailers via anti-discounting measures.

It further alleges that Amazon requires sellers to use its fulfillment service to gain access to the company’s Prime service, making it more expensive for those sellers to offer their goods on other platforms.

In the Meta case, set for trial in 2025, the FTC claims the social media company ran an illegal “buy-or-bury” scheme to either purchase or crush competing social platforms. The FTC is calling for Meta to unwind its acquisitions of both Instagram and WhatsApp.

The FTC initially brought its case against Meta under the Trump administration, but Lina Khan, the FTC chair for the Biden administration, refiled it after that initial dismissal.

Ahead of the 2024 election, Big Tech CEOs sought to cozy up to Trump, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg praising the then-candidate’s reaction to an assassination attempt in July 2024. Trump had previously threatened to jail Zuckerberg in his book.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: (L-R) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration of Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States. (Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images) · Pool via Getty Images

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has also come out in support of Trump, with Amazon donating $1 million to his inauguration campaign. Bezos and Trump had an acrimonious relationship during Trump’s first term with Trump criticizing Bezos over the Washington Post’s reporting about him. Bezos owns the Post.

Ahead of the election, Bezos prevented the Post’s editorial board from endorsing Trump’s rival, former Vice President Kamala Harris, for president.

Google and Microsoft also donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, as did Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Altman, Bezos, Cook, Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai each attended Trump’s inauguration Monday, sitting just behind Trump’s lectern while other Republican leaders viewed the proceedings from an overflow area.

With Big Tech working to gain Trump’s favor and the president openly defending them against EU antitrust matters, there’s a chance that the companies could enjoy a far more forgiving regulatory environment for the next four years.