Donald Trump has doubled down on threats to hit Europe with more tariffs after the bloc imposed a multibillion-dollar fine on Google.
The European Commission on Friday fined Google €2.95bn for its search advertising practices despite fears within the bloc about escalating tensions with the US president.
Writing on Truth Social hours later, Trump railed against “very unfair” fines and taxes charged to US tech companies.
“We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity,” Trump wrote, before threatening to trigger a trade probe that could lead to tariffs on European goods.
The commission, the EU’s top antitrust enforcer, ordered the US tech group to end the alleged “self-preferencing” of its own services and to introduce measures to limit its dominant position in the advertising tech sector.
The fine is one of the largest to be levied against Google. It was previously hit with a €4.12bn fine in 2018 for using its Android mobile phone operating system to squash rivals.
Google now has 60 days to inform the commission about how it intends to comply. If it does not, Brussels warned that the alleged offences could only be resolved by forcing the company to sell off parts of its business.
“At this stage, it appears that the only way for Google to end its conflict of interest effectively is with a structural remedy, such as selling some part of its Adtech business,” said EU competition chief Teresa Ribera. “This seems both necessary and proportionate to effectively stop the infringement.”
The company said it would appeal against the decision. Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s global head of regulatory affairs, called the fine “unjustified” and said “it requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money”.
Google also framed the fine as an example of Europe’s disproportionate enforcement on US companies, echoing complaints from other US tech companies such as Facebook owner Meta.
The EU’s announcement was initially planned for Monday, but it was cancelled at the last minute by trade chief Maroš Šefčovič, according to people briefed on the process.
Brussels and Washington are still ironing out the details of their trade deal struck in late July. Trump has also recently threatened retaliatory tariffs against countries whose taxes or laws target US tech companies.
Trump’s fresh threats on Friday come one day after the heads of major tech companies gathered for a White House dinner in which they lavished the US president with praise.
The potential new levies also underscore that turbulence between Washington and its major trading partners is likely to continue despite the striking of a string of new trade deals.
Šefčovič on Wednesday declined to comment on confidential procedures but said he “fully supports” the investigation against Google under Ribera and that they had “been in regular contact over the past few days”.
On Friday, Ribera said: “We will continue to apply our rules firmly and fairly, without fear or favour, in relation to all companies operating in Europe.”
Friday’s fine relates to a probe that dates back to 2021 when the commission said it had concerns that Google was making it harder for rivals to compete in the online advertising market.
In 2023, Brussels charged Google with abusing its dominant position in the advertising tech sector, warning that the alleged offences could only be resolved by forcing the US tech giant to sell off part of its business.
Earlier this week, Google also avoided a court order in the US requiring it to be broken up after a ruling last year that it had created an illegal monopoly.
The US Department of Justice had argued that Google should have to sell its Chrome browser and, if necessary, its Android operating system.
But a federal judge determined that those sanctions were too severe, instead directing the company to share more data and banning it from making exclusive distribution contracts.
There has been co-ordination between the commission and the DoJ on the case, said people briefed on the process.
Additional reporting by Andy Bounds and Henry Foy in Brussels.