EU is targeting the United States Tech Groups
When considering the European response to the new customs policy in the United States, it is increasingly being considered to regulate the large tech companies more. Because these would basically not be affected by conventional tariffs.
Raw material data
“We could tighten certain administrative requirements or regulate the use of data more strictly,” said French finance minister Eric Lombard in one interview With Le Journal du dimanche. Another option is the taxation of certain activities, but without giving details.
A government spokesman had already indicated in the past week that the European Union could also target digital services in response to US tariffs – especially those that have so far not been subject to any or low taxation. However, this proposal met with resistance from Ireland, where many US tech companies such as Apple, Google and Meta operate their European headquarters.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that it will react to the Protectionist trade policy of the United States with an appropriate answer. The technology sector is considered a particularly promising field for possible retaliation. While the EU generates a trade surplus of around 157 billion euros with the USA for physical goods, it records a deficit of around 109 billion euros in the service sector – especially for digital offers.
EU economy threatened
This is simply because the US companies completely dominate this economic sector. Europe hardly has anything to counter this. Nevertheless, the EU is a very important economic area for the technology companies, which had recently been clearly tied to the Trump government, while in its first term they were still more in the opposition.
France Prime Minister François Bayrou warned on Sunday of serious economic consequences of the US tariffs. “The risk of job losses is considerable, as is the risk of an economic slump and an investment stop,” said Bayrou in an interview with Le Parisien. For example, the US measures could reduce France’s gross domestic product by more than 0.5 percentage points.
