President Donald Trump condemned the European Union’s most recent antitrust fine against Google and said he might take action under Section 301 of the trade law.
He wrote on Truth Social that Europe “hit” Google with a “$3.5 Billion Dollar fine,” which he called “very unfair.” He also warned that his administration “will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand.”
He also added that Apple “had to pay $17 billion” and that he would “start a Section 301 proceeding to get rid of the unfair penalties.”
In a press release on Thursday, the European Commission said that it had fined Google €2.95 billion for leveraging its dominance in advertising technology to favor its own services over those of competitors, which hurt publishers and advertisers.
The Commission told Google to stop favoring itself and to come up with ways to fix conflicts of interest in its ad-tech chain within 60 days.
The Commission’s investigation found that Google is dominant: (i) in the market for publisher ad servers with its service “DFP”; and (ii) in the market for programmatic ad buying tools for the open web with its services “Google Ads” and “DV360”. Both markets are European Economic Area-wide.
The Commission says, in particular it found that, between at least 2014 and today, Google abused such dominant positions in breach of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) by:
- Favouring its own ad exchange AdX in the ad selection process run by its dominant publisher ad server DFP by, for example, informing AdX in advance of the value of the best bid from competitors which it had to beat to win the auction.
- Favouring its ad exchange AdX in the way its ad buying tools Google Ads and DV360 place bids on ad exchanges. For example, Google Ads was avoiding competing ad exchanges and mainly placing bids on AdX, thus making it the most attractive ad exchange.
Officials from the EU emphasized that the solution must be “serious,” and they hinted that structural solutions are still on the table if Google’s approach doesn’t work. “Google needs to come up with a real solution now,” said Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice President.
The Commission also said that the ruling was important for a U.S. lawsuit that would go to a remedies trial on September 22, 2025.
Trump said that the EU’s actions were a direct attack on American employment and investment, and he restated his belief that American businesses are being unfairly targeted. He added, “We can’t let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity.” He also said, “The American Taxpayer will not stand for it.”
He stated that if the sanctions stay in place, his next step would be to start a Section 301 case, which is a probe under U.S. trade law that can lead to retaliatory actions.
The European Commission said that the fine on Thursday was based on its 2006 rules and taken into account how long and serious the violation was, as well as Google’s relevant EEA turnover and past abuse findings. The Commission said it will “thoroughly assess” Google’s suggested actions and, if necessary, take the right steps to fix the problem.
Brussels has given Google 60 days to say how it will comply. Trump, on the other hand, said he is ready to make the fight worse if European countries keep punishing U.S. tech companies in what he calls unfair ways.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
