Antitrust strikes again: EU fines Google nearly US$1 billion, US says it will implement tariff countermeasures
European Commission announces sanctions on U.S. tech giants The company imposed antitrust fines totaling approximately US$1 billion and required it to rectify its search business and app store operating models. The United States immediately expressed strong dissatisfaction with the European penalties and threatened to impose tariff countermeasures on the EU. The US-EU transatlantic economic and trade and digital regulatory frictions further escalated. The European Commission pointed out that Google seriously violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and other relevant antitrust regulations by manipulating search results to suppress competitors and restrict developers from providing users with better deals outside the Play App Store. Based on this ruling, the European side fined Google approximately US$524 million for violations in its search business and approximately US$490 million for violations in its app store, and required it to complete rectifications within 60 days, treat third-party services fairly, and stop restrictions on transactions outside the app store. European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Teresa Ribera and Henna Virkkunen emphasized that high-quality products should win based on competitive advantages, and the EU will not hesitate to use regulatory tools to safeguard market competition and digital sovereignty. In response to the EU ruling, Google responded that the relevant rectification requirements would force the company to cut core functions such as real-time search and weaken security protection, harming the interests of European companies and consumers. Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, pointed out that instead of promoting fair competition, this move will lead to a decline in the quality of products and services. The United States reacted strongly to the European regulatory measures. White House spokesman Kush Desai reiterated that the United States firmly opposes trading partners’ imposition of digital services taxes or high fines on the U.S. technology industry, and emphasized that the United States will take corresponding countermeasures. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer issued a statement, accusing the EU of successive regulatory measures that have increased user privacy risks, constituted substantial forced technology transfer and deprivation of intellectual property rights, and seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of U.S. companies.