US President Donald Trump accused the European Union of ‘robbing’ American companies on Friday — insisting that the United States was not a “piggybank” for European nations. The lengthy diatribe came hours after the President doubled down on his tariff regime by targeting 60 trading partners with fresh levy impositions.
Trump also said he would investigate fines levied against US tech giants and warned that the 27-member bloc could also face “substantial” tariffs.
The President took to Truth Social with a long message on Friday (US time), accusing the EU of “robbing American companies and, in turn, the American taxpayer”. He announced that his administration would “immediately” launch an investigation into the multi-country bloc over severe fines levied against US tech empires, citing powers under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Just hours earlier, his imposition of duties between 10% and 12.5% against dozens of countries, including those in the EU, was announced under the same trade tool over alleged forced labour violations. These levies took effect after a temporary 10% global tariff expired.
“The European Union is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies!” The POTUS wrote in a Truth Social post.
Asserting that the European Union’s targeted campaign is “not going to continue during the Trump Administration,” Trump asserted, “The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!”
According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, the Trade Act is “designed to address unfair foreign practices affecting US commerce” and “a Section 301(b) investigation examines whether the acts, policies, or practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce.” The Trump administration has already leveraged this tariff authority to launch multiple probes.
Warning that the EU would have to “pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about,” Trump assured in his post that the penalties against US companies will be completely overturned. “We anticipate a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment,” he added.
Trump vs EU: Fines on US tech giants
Just days ago, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, slapped Google with a €890m ($1bn) fine for breaches of the Digital Markets Act, according to an official press release. Before putting Google under the microscope, the EU had similarly fined Apple and Meta as well.
In an official release published July 23, the European Commission contended that it had issued two separate fines (€460 million and €430 million) against Google for “self-preferencing its own services” on the search engine and for “anti-steering” consumers to alternative, often cheaper, purchase channels on Google Play by placing restrictions on businesses.
Welcoming Trump’s intervention this week, Jose Castaneda, a spokesperson for Google, said the company had done its best to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
The European Union, on the other hand, has long cracked down on tech giants since even before Trump’s presidential term to regulate competition.
Trump’s tariffs challenged again
While the MAGA leader’s latest admission about tariffs targeting the 27-member bloc still just quantifies as a threat, his new duties ranging between 10% and 12.5% are already facing legal pushback.
A lawsuit, by two US small businesses, challenging the fresh wave of sweeping tariffs was filed in the US Court of International Trade on Friday. It accuses the POTUS of improperly leveraging Section 301 to bring back Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs despite them being struck down by the US Supreme Court earlier this year.
