When the president of the United States Donald Trump presented a list of customs duties to a number of countries on Wednesday, European officials and legislators immediately thought of Washington's Achilles' heel — in the form of large Tech.
The European Union has a trade surplus of EUR 157 billion (671 billion) in goods, which means it exports more than it imports. At the same time, however, it has a deficit of EUR 109 billion (PLN 466 billion) in services, including digital ones. Large technology giants specified as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta dominate all parts of the marketplace in Europe.
During the Tuesday session of the European Parliament, before Donald Trump announced customs, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen mentioned that technology is 1 of the ‘cards’ that Brussels can play in negotiations with the president of the United States. And it's truly strong. The problem is that the EU is divided as to whether it should usage it, with specified serious consequences.
EU tool and anger of rich people
EU flagship technology legislation, specified as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), were not created as retaliation tools. erstwhile attempts to impose higher taxes on technological giants have failed.
European governments could reduce their spending on large Tech by changing public procurement policy, but in many cases they do not have another companies to turn to. Moreover, any capitals specified as Dublin already inform that hitting American technology will seriously harm the block economy.
It's almost certain direct attack on large technology companies will anger the CEOs of technology companies, specified as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, who had a close relation with Trump.
VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFPpresident of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference at the EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkanda, on 4 April 2025.
Europe could besides usage its most powerful trade weapon so far — Anti-Coercion Instrument . With it, Brussels could hit American technology companies.
However, this tool is not tested. It was designed as a "trade bazooka" after Trump's first word of regulation from 2017 to 2021, but has never been utilized in practice.
Law vs. Commercial War
The EU has not yet conducted any of the groundbreaking investigations which it has initiated under the DMA (for digital competition) and DSA (for content moderation) laws. At the end of this or at the beginning of next week, the European Commission intends to impose fines on Apple and Meta for breach of the digital competition rules, the first specified fines imposed under DMA.
Brussels besides acknowledged that service X Elona Muska breached EU rules on content moderation.This could consequence in financial penalties of 6 percent of the company's yearly global turnover. The investigation is so besides covered by Meta. EU officials are trying to emphasise that enforcement of these rules should not be considered part of the trade war.
“DMA is not a bargaining chip. This regulation is intended to establish fair rules of play in Europe, not to be utilized in a trade agreement with the United States," said French lawyer Renew Stephanie Yon-Courtin.
Andreas Schwab of the centre-right European People's organization (EPP), which is active in DMA work, stated that the European Commission should make decisions on Apple and Meta more rapidly — precisely to show that "there is nothing political about them".
Its main argument is that EU technological government exists to support European values alternatively than discriminate or attack a country. Any proposition that this is not the case could harm the European Commission — large Tech will inevitably process fines and penalties resulting from infringements.
Washington, however, suggested the opposite. In February, the Trump administration threatened with retaliatory duties against the EU technological regime, justifying the alleged threat to American companies and freedom of speech. White home Wednesday Declaration on Customs reiterated calls to Brussels to velocity up investigations against US technology companies.
— Since Trump stated that he was open to negotiations, I fear he will effort to usage digital services as a negotiating tool. However, I hope that the European Commission will be firm," said Danish MEP Christel Schaldemose. Green lawyer Alexandra Geese spoke in a akin way. “Let us definitely enforce DSA and DMA,” she said.
Taxes and charges
Supporters of the consequence to Trump customs see respective another forms of retaliation — specified as the imposition of higher taxes on digital services and the exclusion of American technology companies from government contracts.
Brando Benifei, who presides over Parliament's delegation to the US, signaled the request to take "wide remedies that will hit where it truly hurts" and which will be "focused on services specified as large technology companies". In a written comment as 1 possible solution, he suggested that they be excluded from public procurement.
Digital services "will inevitably be at the centre of attention," said Aura Salla, a Finnish MP from the European People's organization (EPP), who is besides a erstwhile head lobbyist for Meta in Brussels. The president of this group, Manfred Weber, said on Tuesday that "digital giants pay small for our digital infrastructure, from which they benefit so much".
Some EU countries have already joined these votes. Thursday, French government spokesperson Sophie Primas said another wave of EU retaliatory action can be targeted at "digital services which are not presently taxed". French MEP Sandro Gozi besides noted that "taxing American digital giants" could be 1 of Trump's options to respond to the duties.
The issue of the digital service taxation has been raised in the EU for any time. However, the 27 block associate States cannot agree on this and the EU's taxation policy requires unanimity.
Some associate States have so taken independent action. The late ruling coalition in Belgium has developed an agreement on the introduction of a digital taxation by 2027 if no agreement is reached at global or EU level. Ireland, a European “capital” of respective American large Tech companies, immediately responded to this move. Irish trade minister Simon Harris assured that this was not an EU-wide position, adding that this decision could be very damaging to Ireland.
