US President Donald Trump lashed out at the European Union on Friday for imposing a $3.5 billion antitrust fine on Google, calling it “unfair” and warning of retaliatory action if the bloc does not withdraw the penalty.
“Europe today 'hit' another great American company, Google, with a $3.5 Billion Dollar fine, effectively taking money that would otherwise go to American Investments and Jobs,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“Very unfair, and the American taxpayer will not stand for it! As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand.”
Trump added, “We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity and, if it does, I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies.”
His remarks came a day after he hosted Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and co-founder Sergey Brin at the White House, where he praised them for a US court decision rejecting the government’s attempt to force the sale of Google’s Chrome browser in a separate antitrust case.
The European Commission had fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.5 billion) on Friday, ruling that the company abused its dominant position by favoring its own digital advertising services. Regulators also ordered the company to end “self-preferencing practices” and resolve “conflicts of interest” across the ad-tech supply chain.
Google rejected the decision, saying it would appeal. “It imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company’s global head of regulatory affairs.
“There’s nothing anticompetitive in providing services for ad buyers and sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever before,” she added.
The EU ruling follows a three-year investigation launched in 2021. While regulators had raised the possibility of forcing a breakup of Google’s ad business, they stopped short of taking that step.
The company also faces ongoing scrutiny in the United States, where the Justice Department has sought the divestment of its AdX and DFP platforms.
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