Trump calls €2.95 bn EU fine on Google ‘unfair’, signals trade retaliation

US President Donald Trump has threatened fresh tariffs on the European Union after Brussels fined Google €2.95 billion ($3.47 billion) for abusing its dominance in online advertising.

Soon after the EU’s announcement, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Europe today ‘hit’ another great American company, Google, with a $3.5 Billion Dollar fine, effectively taking money that would otherwise go to American Investments and Jobs … Very unfair, and the American Taxpayer will not stand for it!”

He warned, “As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand … I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies.”

The European Commission said Google gave unlawful preferential treatment to its own ad exchange, AdX, while leveraging its control over publisher servers and ad-buying tools. The case followed a complaint from the European Publishers Council and marks one of the bloc’s strongest crackdowns on Big Tech.

“Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest, and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies,” said EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera, stressing that digital markets “must be grounded in trust and fairness.”

The fine had been delayed earlier this week after EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic cautioned it could fuel Trump’s threats of retaliatory tariffs on European cars.

Google rejected the ruling. “This decision is unjustified, and the changes demanded will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company’s vice president. The company confirmed it would appeal.

The Commission has given Google 60 days to comply with its order. The probe into the company’s ad tech practices was first launched in June 2021.