The EU is fighting back: Apple and Meta may avoid maximum fines due to fear of Trump
28 March 14:38
The European Union plans to ease sanctions against Apple and Meta under the new Digital Markets Act in an effort to avoid worsening relations with the United States and Donald Trump. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to the Financial Times.
What the European Commission does not like
Two major investigations are ongoing against Apple:
- an investigation into the App Store’s practice of not directing users off the platform;
- the web browser investigation, in which the European Commission has complaints about the design of the selection screen.
Meta expects to be fined because of its forced consent model for data tracking. Currently, Meta forces users to agree to track their data or pay for a subscription to avoid seeing ads.
Such actions are part of Brussels’ strategy to limit the dominance of tech giants in the digital economy. The newly elected European Commission has previously demonstrated its commitment to the new law.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
The EU is backtracking
However, according to the Financial Times, companies may receive smaller fines, despite the potential for up to 10% of global turnover. This is explained by the fact that the European Commission seems to intend to focus on implementing changes rather than imposing huge financial sanctions.
At the same time, there is another explanation for this: the EU is trying not to complicate its already difficult relations with the US administration. After all, there is a risk of a negative reaction from Trump, who has previously criticized such measures, considering them to be hidden taxation of American companies and a potential basis for imposing customs restrictions.
Context
Donald Trump’s administration has imposed trade restrictions on China, Mexico and Canada, the three largest trading partners of the United States. The US government imposed an import duty of 25% of the value of goods from Canada and Mexico, and 20% on goods from China. Canadian energy products are subject to an additional duty.
The European Union has not yet been fully caught up in this skate, but it has been affected as well. For example, the 25% U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum have also affected the EU, as Germany and the Netherlands are among the ten largest steel suppliers to the United States.
Trump has also recently threatened 200% tariffs on French wine.
So, there is reason to believe that Trump is just waiting for an opportunity to impose some new, more significant tariffs on the EU. In this situation, the European Union is trying to avoid further escalation of tensions.
