Donald Trump responded within twenty-four hours. After the European Commission announced new fines of 890 million euros against Google on Thursday for anticompetitive practices, the US president hit back on Friday with explicit threats of economic retaliation against Brussels, according to eldiario.es.

Penalties mount: Google faces over 10 billion euros in fines

The European Commission split its penalty into two separate fines: 430 million euros for favoring its own services in Google Search and 460 million more for imposing restrictions that prevent users from accessing alternative shopping channels, often cheaper, on Google Play.

With these two fines, Google has now accumulated more than 10 billion euros in historical penalties imposed by Brussels. The new sanctions stem from non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), legislation that came into force in 2023 and requires large tech companies not to discriminate against third parties on their platforms.

Trump sees pattern of persecution against US companies

Trump posted his response on Truth Social, accusing Brussels of an "illegal and highly discriminatory" practice specifically targeting US companies. According to the president, the EU has also fined Apple 15 billion dollars, Meta 3 billion, and Amazon 2.5 billion, among others.

In his statements, Trump quantified total sanctions against Google at more than 18 billion dollars (a figure that includes conversion to dollars of historical sanctions in euros) and noted that this regulatory policy began under the Biden administration but "will not continue during the Trump administration".

Tariffs as immediate retaliation

The president announced concrete economic punishment measures. First, he has ordered the launch of an investigation under Section 301, a US legal mechanism that allows trade sanctions to be imposed for unfair trade practices.

Additionally, Trump has promised:

• Total revocation of sanctions against Google
• The imposition of a substantial tariff against European products and services in the short term

"The European Union will pay a very high price for this illegal and deeply unethical conduct," Trump declared, claiming to have repeatedly warned Brussels about these practices.

A conflict defining the Trump era

European digital regulation has become one of the most contentious issues between Brussels and the new US administration. The DMA, designed to curb the power of big tech companies, requires firms like Google to apply "transparent, fair and non-discriminatory conditions" in their ranking systems and not give preferential treatment to their own services over competitors.

Commission technicians have documented that Google displays its own services—shopping, hotels, transport, sports—more prominently in search results, even in preferential positions, an advantage it does not grant to rival platforms.

Tensions between European regulation and US corporate power will continue to escalate. While Brussels defends its right to oversee any company operating in its market, Washington views these sanctions as a coordinated attack on its tech industry. The question remaining is whether Trump will follow through on his threats of tariff retaliation or whether this is new political rhetoric in a more complex negotiation.