President Donald Trump threatened on Friday afternoon to kickstart a probe that paves the way for tariffs on the European Union over their fines on Google $GOOGL and other U.S. tech companies.
“As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand,” he wrote in a social media post. “We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity and, if it does, I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies.”
Trump followed up with another social media post noting that Google had already paid a sizable sum to the EU. Over the last decade, Brussels has fined Google more than $10 billion in antitrust penalties.
“The European Union must stop this practice against American Companies, IMMEDIATELY!” he said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The president’s comments came a day after he hosted prominent tech executives for dinner at the White House. Among those in attendance were Google CEO Sundar Pichai and company co-founder Sergey Brin, part of a cohort that Trump later praised as “definitely a high-IQ group.”
Last month, the Trump administration finalized a trade deal with the EU that left 15% tariffs in place for most European products — with higher levies on autos. However, Trump has long been upset over the EU’s use of digital taxes to regulate tech companies and Brussels’ imposition of financial penalties. On Friday, EU regulators hit Google with a $3.5 billion fine for violating competition rules and prioritizing its digital ad services.
“When markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power,” EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement. Google swiftly moved to appeal the ruling.
A Section 301 investigation paves the way for Washington to impose import taxes under a fortified legal basis through the Commerce Department, and the president has a lot of latitude to issue tariffs over unfair trade practices under the provision. Section 301 is the same trade tool Trump used to justify tariffs on China starting in 2018. But the process can stretch for months, according to Jacob Jensen, a trade analyst at the center-right American Action Forum.
Jensen noted that the Trump administration is switching up its tariff legal authority away from one that has faced scrutiny and was, last week, invalidated by a federal court. He believed Washington is “being extra cautious — or they don’t believe their case will hold in the Supreme Court.”