Donald Trump threatens new EU tariffs in retaliation for fines on US tech groups

Donald Trump has said he would hit the EU with more tariffs over huge fines meted out to US tech companies, risking a significant escalation in transatlantic trade tension.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Friday that his administration would start a new tariff probe into the bloc over “the practice of ‘ROBBING’ American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer”.

The post comes a day after the European Commission fined Google €890mn for breaching the bloc’s digital rules.

Trump lashed out at Brussels for also fining Apple, Meta and Amazon. Last year, the EU fined Apple and Facebook owner Meta a total of €700mn for breaching its digital rules. It also fined Elon Musk-backed social media company X €120mn last year for breaching content moderation rules, leading to pushback from US secretary of state Marco Rubio.

Trump wrote: “The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about. The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment.”

The fresh threats come a day after the US imposed a barrage of new tariffs on more than 60 economies as it rebuilds the tariff wall struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

Trump has previously signalled that his administration would carry out an investigation into foreign countries’ digital services taxes, which Democrats and Republicans in Washington have long argued unfairly target US tech companies.

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Last month, Trump said he would impose a 100 per cent tariff on imports from European countries that implement a digital services tax on American companies, warning the duty would supersede any trade deals.

Countries including the UK and France have in recent years introduced tech levies, straining relations with Washington. The European parliament recently backed an EU-wide digital services tax, but it would require the support o…