The European Union insisted it will keep enforcing its tech regulations “without discrimination”, after the US threatened retaliation over the bloc’s actions against US firms.
The US threatened countermeasures against the EU yesterday over the bloc’s efforts to tax its firms, pointing to major European companies as potential targets, according to AFP.
That came on the same day US President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles gave an apparently brutal review of him in a new interview, saying he has an “alcoholic’s personality”, The Independent reported.
Wiles dismissed the interview as a “hit piece”.
Regarding the EU, in a social media post, the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office criticised the bloc and certain member states for their “continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines, and directives” against US service providers.
It warned that if the EU and its members pressed on with moves deemed to deter the competitiveness of US companies, Washington “will have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures”.
The post also signalled that key European businesses could be targeted in response, listing Accenture, DHL, Mistral, Siemens and Spotify among others, AFP reported.
“Should responsive measures be necessary, US law permits the assessment of fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions,” the USTR said.
It added that Washington will take a similar approach to other countries that pursue an “EU-style strategy in this area”.
In response, Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the European Commission, said: “As we have made clear many times, our rules apply equally and fairly to all companies operating in the EU,” according to The Independent.
“We will continue to enforce our rules fairly, and without discrimination,” he added.
The US statement also sparked pushback from Luther Lowe, head of public policy at San Francisco-based start-up accelerator Y Combinator.
Lowe called the move “a disappointing betrayal of ‘little tech’,” adding that the EU’s Digital Markets Act helps unlock market share for US firms.
Trump has previously lashed out at the EU over its regulation of US tech firms and the USTR’s statement marks a further attempt to exert pressure on Brussels.
Earlier in December, the US leader also criticised a “nasty” $140 million (€119.1 million) fine by the EU against US tech tycoon Elon Musk’s X social network. He warned that “Europe has to be very careful”.
Tensions will likely continue to simmer, with Google, Microsoft and Amazon also recently facing further scrutiny by authorities in Brussels.
Yesterday, the USTR post argued that US companies have provided “substantial free services” to EU citizens and “reliable enterprise services” to companies.
It also said that bloc’s service providers, in turn, had been able to “operate freely” in the US.
Meanwhile, Wiles, in her wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, described how she got her role and what it is like to be arguably the closest person to the President.
Trump is a teetotaller but she said he “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing”.
In the interview, she said: “High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink.”
After the article was published, Wiles backtracked, describing it as a “disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff and Cabinet in history”.
Despite that, hours later, Trump confirmed her description. “I’ve said that many times about myself. I’m fortunate I’m not a drinker.
“If I did, I could very well, because I’ve said that — what’s the word? Not possessive — possessive and addictive type personality. Oh, I’ve said it many times, many times before,” he told the New York Post.
“I didn’t read it, but I don’t read Vanity Fair — but she’s done a fantastic job,” Trump also told the NYP.
His pushback against countries that he says are targeting US tech firms has prompted some changes elsewhere according to AFP.
In June, Canada said it would rescind its digital services tax – which would have hit US tech giants – after Trump said he was ending trade talks with Ottawa.
