US threatens countermeasures after EU fine on Musk's X

WASHINGTON, ‌Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Tuesday threatened a ‍wide ‌range of retaliatory measures against EU service providers, including possible fees ⁠or restrictions on foreign ‌services, if the firms continue what the USTR called "discriminatory" actions.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in a post on X, ⁠accused the EU and some of its member states of "discriminatory and harassing ​lawsuits, taxes, fines and directives against U.S. ‌services" while it said ⁠EU service providers "operate freely" in the U.S., pointing to Accenture, DHL, Siemens and Spotify, among others.

"If the EU ​and EU Member States insist on continuing to restrict, limit, and deter the competitiveness of U.S. service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will have no choice ​but ‍to begin using every ​tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures," the USTR wrote.

The threat comes after EU tech regulators imposed a fine on Elon Musk's X social media platform earlier this month, with the USTR saying it would use "every ⁠tool at its disposal."

"Should responsive measures be necessary, U.S. law permits the assessment of ​fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions," the office of the USTR said in the post, which also pointed to other EU ‌service providers Amadeus, Capgemini, Mistral, Publicis and SAP.

(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Costas Pitas)