The United States will launch a formal investigation into the European Union’s trade practices, President Donald Trump announced on Friday, accusing the bloc of unfairly imposing billions of dollars in penalties on Google, Apple and other American technology companies. The move came a day after the European Commission hit Google with an €890 million antitrust fine.
“The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!” Trump wrote in a post that he framed as formal notice of an immediate trade investigation into what he called the practice of “robbing” American companies and, by extension, American taxpayers. “The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about,” he added, before signing off with “Stay tuned!”
The European Commission said on Friday that it would work with Washington to ease tensions after fining Google the previous day over its dominance in the EU’s digital market, a decision that drew an immediate and angry response from the US.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the fine put at risk both the ongoing transatlantic dialogue on digital regulation and the trade deal the two sides reached last year after difficult negotiations. The Trump administration has repeatedly attacked the EU’s digital rules, arguing that Brussels is erecting non-tariff barriers against US firms and singling out American Big Tech.
Even so, the Commission’s chief spokesperson, Paula Pinho, said Washington had left room for negotiation. “There’s a call for dialogue which we fully embrace,” she said, adding that Brussels would engage while safeguarding its regulatory “autonomy.”
‘The EU Undermines Dialogue’
Earlier in the week, 25 US lawmakers wrote to Trump urging an investigation into EU trade practices ahead of the anticipated Google fine. That penalty arrived on Thursday, imposed under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, a law Washington has criticised relentlessly over the past year alongside the Digital Services Act, which targets illegal content on large online platforms.
“We are trying to resolve our concerns with the EU’s Digital Markets Act and other actions through responsible, constructive dialogue,” Greer said in a statement after the fine was announced. “The EU’s recent actions undermine these efforts and pose a real risk to the continuation of transatlantic stability with respect to trade.”
Bernd Lange, the German Socialist MEP who chairs the European Parliament’s trade committee, told Euronews that he feared further escalation and expected additional measures from the US. Lange was a central figure in the talks to implement the EU-US agreement struck in July 2025 by Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after weeks of dispute. Despite that deal, EU officials still regard the transatlantic relationship as volatile.
On Thursday, the White House also announced a new tariff regime targeting its trading partners, including the EU, over forced labour allegations. While insisting it maintains strict rules against products made with forced labour, Brussels chose not to retaliate, arguing that the new tariffs stayed within the 15 percent cap on EU goods set out in the trade deal.
