One of Donald Trump’s chief antitrust enforcers unleashed a blistering attack on the European Union’s flagship law that regulates big tech firms, in the latest war of words ahead of the announcement of sweeping U.S. trade tariffs.
Andrew Ferguson, the chair of the United States Federal Trade Commission, said EU fines expected in the coming days were merely a tax on American companies and their behavior should have nothing to do with Brussels.
“I am very suspicious of laws that appear to have been written to get at American companies abroad,” he said Wednesday. “I definitely don’t want the Europeans basically levying taxes on American firms no matter what the conduct is.”
The EU’s Digital Markets Act, which entered into force in 2022, aims to ensure the biggest tech firms don’t crowd out smaller rivals. The European Commission is expected to fine the U.S. companies Apple and Meta, which owns Facebook, in the coming days for allegedly violating DMA rules.
While these fines aren’t technically tariffs, they are being seen as such by the White House. Trump is to announce sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on the EU and other countries later on Wednesday in a package of measures he has described as “liberation day.”
“The fines under the DMA are not tied to the business being conducted by the firm in Europe,” Ferguson, a Trump appointee, said. “It starts to look like the DMA is sort of like a form of taxing American companies.” To fall into the category of what the European Commission calls a “gatekeeper” and so be caught by DMA rules, digital platforms need to meet certain revenue and user number criteria in the EU.
Ferguson’s words echo a memo issued last month by Trump, in which he said the DMA would face scrutiny and could lead to reciprocal tariffs. The U.S. is also expected to target EU regulations that it considers to be non-tariff barriers, including the DMA.
Questions about ‘due process’
The FTC chair also questioned whether the EU should have the responsibility of disciplining U.S. companies. “If we think that Americans are suffering from anticompetitive conduct at home, we should address it here at home,” Ferguson said. “I don’t want the Europeans doing it for us.”
The FTC oversees antitrust enforcement along with the Department of Justice. Ferguson was speaking at the Little Tech Competition Summit hosted by startup catalyzer Y Combinator.
He also said he was concerned about “due process” in the EU’s application of the rules.
“I am really wary about Brussels bureaucrats being given the power basically to level fines,” said Ferguson. In the U.S., “if I think someone has committed an antitrust violation, I have to prove it in court.”
While noting that “the goal of the DMA is to unlock innovation in Europe,” he said “we don’t have a DMA equivalent here, and we’re innovating.” “And so I’ve got my doubts about whether this is, you know, really about that.”
The European Commission was approached for comment.
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