Headlines
US calls EU fines on Apple and Meta 'economic extortion'
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 23, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 23, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
The US condemns EU fines on Apple and Meta as economic extortion, potentially escalating tech tensions. The fines are part of the EU's Digital Markets Act enforcement.
By Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House said on Wednesday that fines on Apple and Meta Platforms 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."
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
The article discusses the US response to EU fines on Apple and Meta, labeling them as economic extortion.
They were fined under the EU's Digital Markets Act for antitrust violations.
The US considers the fines a form of economic extortion and a threat to trade.
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