Friend or foe? The EU risks the Twitter Trump storm with Google well

BRUSSELS-U.S. The enemies of the European Union President Donald Trump take it again – attacking one of America's largest technology companies with a second painful antitrust decision

The Antitrust Commissioner from the EU, Margrethe Vestager, has imposed a record fine of 4.3 billion euros. company, a year after hitting Google with a penalty of 2.4 billion euros to thwart rivals of online shopping. This is the latest in a string of EU strikes against Silicon Valley giants who have also imposed heavy taxes on Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to have received unjust tax agreements from European countries

Reviews | Ellen Roseman: Frustrated Telephone Owners Finally Get Answers

"Most of the EU's major competition decisions against US corporations have sparked backs of Democratic and Republican administrations going back to the Clinton administration "said Waller. "Usually, most critics emanate from antitrust agencies that meet the EU's obligation to impose or block a transaction on theories that are not currently enforced in the United States" [19659002] The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 19659002] The decision could not come at a more precarious moment in the EU and the US reports. Faced with the risk of being caught amidst a growing global trade war, the EU has already retaliated against US taxes on steel and aluminum imports and warned earlier this month of the "worst case scenarios" of international trade. It happens days after Trump told CBS in an interview that the EU "is an enemy, what they do to us in the trade" and following a controversial meeting with the US's allies. NATO in which he harassed them about their armed forces. expenditure levels. He attacked German Chancellor Angela Merkel over a pipeline agreement with Russia and reprimanded British Prime Minister Theresa May for failing to "break" hard with the EU during Brexit talks

. The law imposes levies on steel and aluminum imports, which draws the EU's attention to companies located in sensitive political locations for Trump, as the maker of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Inc. in Wisconsin and Kentucky Whiskey Distiller Jack Daniel & # 39; s

In an increasingly hostile commercial climate, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will visit Washington on July 25 for a meeting with Trump to avoid a new series of tariffs on European car imports. American criticism has so far failed to stem the EU's attacks on large American corporations. Almost two years ago, the EU hit Apple with a record 13 billion euros bill, plus interest that it had not paid in Ireland. Apple and Ireland are the subject of an appeal in the courts of the EU.

Vestager also ordered Starbucks Corp. and Amazon to repay tens of millions of euros in the Netherlands and Luxembourg

. has stated repeatedly that she does not care about the nationality of a company and that she does not specifically attack the well known American companies.

"I love the United States very much," Vestager told Brussels Wednesday after announcing his decision. . "I come from Denmark, that's what we do, we love the United States" and the order of the EU "has nothing to do with how I feel, Nothing at all."

on the other side of the Atlantic and 'are not well understood in the United States because we have no equivalent part of our competition law dealing with aid. State, "said Waller. "In addition, our states often consider each other by granting concessions, tax breaks, and other benefits to attract businesses from other countries and other states to the United States."

Makan Delrahim, Head of the US Department of Justice. plans to take a look at the conclusions of the EU on Android. Earlier this year, he warned against the European approach, saying that the imposition of special rights on digital platforms "could stifle the very innovation that has created dynamic competition for the benefit of the consumers ".

Delrahim's comments were a veiled criticism of shopping. Google has criticized the EU's enforcement actions for failing to prove that consumers were harmed.

While the EU has aggressively attacked technology companies like Google and Apple, US authorities largely have no intervention, despite growing calls for greater corporate antitrust oversight because dominant position in many markets. The United States closed a nearly two-year Google survey in 2013 without taking any action.

"The Federal Trade Commission or the US Department of Justice should also take action to end Google's monopolistic abuse of antitrust policy," said John M. Simpson, director of privacy and confidentiality projects. of technology at the nonprofit American Consumer Watchdog organization.