Overview
- U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Washington could deploy all available tools, including tariffs or restrictions on foreign services, in response to what it calls discriminatory EU measures against American providers.
- The escalation came after the European Commission fined X €120 million on December 5 under the Digital Services Act for its paid blue-check system.
- Earlier this year, the EU also fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million under the Digital Markets Act, penalties that the Trump administration has criticized.
- Greer argued that U.S. platforms provide free services to EU users, deliver enterprise solutions to European companies, and support millions of jobs and more than $100 billion in direct investment in Europe.
- He cited European firms such as Amadeus, Accenture, Capgemini, DHL, Mistral, Publicis, SAP, Siemens, and Spotify as operating freely in the U.S., warned of similar responses to other jurisdictions, and noted no specific tariffs have been announced to date.