When the European Union enacted its revolutionary Digital Markets Act in 2022 – labeling key US companies as “gatekeepers” subject to strict antitrust rules – US officials stayed silent. Many agreed that Apple, Google, Meta, and other Silicon Valley behemoths stifled competition and needed to be reined in.
Under President Joe Biden, Big Tech faced pressure from Washington watchdogs. The Federal Trade Commission blocked Silicon Valley mergers on antitrust grounds, and the Department of Justice filed monopoly lawsuits against Amazon, Apple, and Google.
Under Donald Trump, this implicit transatlantic consensus on regulating large US tech companies could shatter. Trump believes that the EU discriminates against US companies, and he could lash out. Silicon Valley hopes the incoming US president will protect them. Top executives rushed to congratulate Trump on his victory.
A reckoning looks imminent. The European Commission has opened probes into Google, Apple, and Meta for violating the Digital Markets Act. The Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of companies’ annual global revenue. In March, the EU fined Apple €1.84 billion, acting on Spotify’s complaint that Apple restricted developers’ ability to point users to cheaper purchases outside the App Store. Apple is now reportedly set to face another fine for violating competition rules.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently called Trump to share his concerns. Cook complained not only about the Digital Markets Act but also about another recent EU ruling that forced Apple to pay Ireland €13 billion in taxes. In response, Trump said he would not let the EU “take advantage of our companies.”
Another flashpoint will be Elon Musk and his social media platform X. Musk poured over $100 million into Trump’s campaign and is now set to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency,” a powerful position to shape the new administration.
In July, the European Commission found X had breached the Digital Services Act, which regulates content hosted on online platforms. X failed to meet transparency and accountability rules, and its blue check marks were deceptive, the Commission charged. In response, Musk claimed that the regulators offered him an illegal secret deal to censor speech online and promised a court battle. The Commission now must decide whether to impose punitive fines on X–the first under the Digital Services Act–of up to 6% of X’s total revenue and 6% of Musk’s other companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink.
A clash could still be averted. The EU could back down from fining Apple and X to avoid provoking the incoming administration. After Trump’s election, EU leaders made conciliatory noises. “I look forward to working with President Trump again to advance a strong transatlantic agenda,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “Millions of jobs and billions in trade and investment on each side of the Atlantic depend on the dynamism and stability of our economic relationship.”
Trump could also sour on Silicon Valley. He has previously threatened legal action against Big Tech companies, including Google and Meta, accusing them of censoring conservative voices. During his first term, his Department of Justice started investigations into Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta on antitrust grounds. A judge recently ruled that Google abused its web search monopoly. Incoming Vice President JD Vance has praised Biden’s Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and supported breaking up Google.
A potential conflict over tech will add to looming transatlantic divergences over trade and climate change, not to mention Ukraine and defense spending. The launch of a possible tariff war represents an immediate threat, with Trump threatening that the EU will “pay a big price” for not buying enough US exports and vowing to impose up to 20% tariffs across the board on European goods.
The US is Europe’s largest trading partner. Direct EU investment in the US totaled $2.4 trillion in 2022, creating more than 3.4 million American jobs. Currently, the average US tariff for European imports is around 3 to 4%. Higher US tariffs could reduce EU exports by €150 billion annually.
Europe’s tech crackdown could be the spark that sets off a transatlantic conflagration.
Bill Echikson is a CEPA non-resident Senior Fellow and editor of Bandwidth.
Oona Lagercrantz is a researcher for CEPA’s Digital Innovation Initiative.
Bandwidth is CEPA’s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy. All opinions expressed on Bandwidth are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
2025 CEPA Forum Tech & Security Conference
Explore the latest from the conference.
