US calls EU fines on Apple and Meta 'economic extortion'

EU antitrust legislation has fined Apple 500 million euros 500 million euros under landmark legislation aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech

FILE PHOTO: Meta and Threads app logos are seen in this illustration taken Jul 4, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The White House said on Wednesday that fines on Apple AAPL.O and Meta Platforms META.O by the European Union were a "novel form of economic extortion" that the United States will not tolerate.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Apple was fined 500 million euros ($570 million) on Wednesday and Meta 200 million euros, as EU antitrust regulators handed out the first sanctions under landmark legislation aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech.

The fines were seen as a development that could stoke tensions between the EU and U.S. President Donald Trump who has threatened to levy tariffs against countries that penalize American companies.

CONTEXT

The White House on Wednesday called the legislation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), discriminatory.

The fines followed a year-long investigation by the European Commission, the EU executive, into whether the companies comply with the DMA that seeks to allow smaller rivals into markets dominated by the biggest companies.

KEY QUOTES

"This novel form of economic extortion will not be tolerated by the United States," a White House spokesperson said.

"Extraterritorial regulations that specifically target and undermine American companies, stifle innovation, and enable censorship will be recognized as barriers to trade and a direct threat to free civil society."