The Trump administration has issued an ultimatum to the European Union regarding its regulation of U.S. technology companies, threatening to deploy “every tool at its disposal” to retaliate against what it describes as unfair targeting of Silicon Valley giants, which could mean imposing fees on European services that operate in American markets like Spotify and DHL.
In a statement posted to social media on Tuesday, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) accused European regulators of pursuing a “persistent course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines, and directives against U.S. service providers.” The Trump administration says if these practices continue, the U.S. is prepared to impose fees and restrictions on European companies operating in the American market.
“If the EU and EU Member States insist on continuing to restrict, limit, and deter the competitiveness of U.S. service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures,” the USTR said.
Potential targets for retaliation
The Trump administration’s warning went beyond vague threats, explicitly naming several major European corporations that could face retaliatory measures. The list includes logistics giant DHL, consulting firm Accenture, industrial manufacturer Siemens, software company SAP, music streaming service Spotify, and artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI.
