EU trade chief warns of US retaliation after Google fine
A fresh €890 million fine on Google and new US tariffs targeting forced labour threaten to unravel a fragile transatlantic trade deal and expose European tech regulation to Washington's retaliation.
The European Commission hit Google with an €890 million penalty on Thursday under the Digital Markets Act, an enforcement action designed to curb the dominance of big tech in Europe. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer swiftly labelled the fine "unreasonable" and warned it created "uncertainty" for transatlantic commerce. The clash signals escalating tensions over Europe's efforts to regulate American technology firms.
Bernd Lange, the German Socialist MEP who chairs the European Parliament's trade committee, told Euronews that Brussels must prepare for further fallout. Defending the EU's right to regulate, he noted: “We have the tariff for the deal of Scotland and we have some regulation where everybody, not only US companies but also Europeans or whatever companies, has to respect it.”
He warned that both the DMA and the Digital Services Act remain firmly in Washington's crosshairs following Donald Trump's return to the White House. “To be honest, I expect that some action will come,” Lange said.
The Google penalty was not the only flashpoint this week. On the same day, Washington unveiled a new tariff regime replacing an expiring framework with fresh duties targeting global trading partners over forced labour.
This directly impacts the EU, which has operated since July 2025 under a trade deal struck in Scotland. That agreement imposed 15% US duties on EU goods while removing European tariffs on US products, a balance Brussels accepted to shield businesses from erratic American threats.
Instead, the forced labour justification has baffled European policymakers. Lange described the targeting of the EU on these grounds as "crazy", pointing to the bloc's strict domestic rules. “We have a wonderful legislation, even stronger than the United States has,” he said.
For European businesses and investors, the dual pressure of tech enforcement and unpredictable tariffs creates a highly volatile operating environment. The DMA and DSA are central to the EU's strategy to protect its internal digital market and level the playing field. However, enforcing these rules now carries the explicit risk of economic retaliation from the US, undermining the predictability that European markets need.
Lange suggested the new forced labour tariffs could face legal hurdles. “I guess the courts in the United States will judge about that,” he said.
Looking further ahead, he expressed hope that the US midterm elections in November might shift the balance of power back to the legislature. “I hope that after the midterms in November, the Congress will take over a little bit more like it is written down in the Constitution of the United States, Article 1, Paragraph 8, that trade policy is in the hands of the Congress,” he said. “I hope this will give us also additional stability.”
