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Apple faces modest fines as EU seeks to avoid tensions with America

MacDailyNews

Mar 28

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Apple CEO Tim Cook (left) confers with U.S. President Donald Trump in September 2019 — Apple CEO Tim Cook (left) confers with U.S. President Donald Trump during the first Trump administration in September 2019

Apple and Meta Platforms Inc. are expected to face fines under the European Union’s competition regulations for Big Tech by the end of next week. Apple also faces the possibility of ongoing penalties under the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Citing “sources familiar with the situation,” Bloomberg News reports Friday that EU authorities are likely to impose relatively small fines on the two U.S. tech companies compared to previous antitrust sanctions.

Samuel Stolton for Bloomberg News:
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The move is seen as an attempt to enforce the EU’s digital rules while avoiding inflaming tensions with US President Donald Trump, who has warned he’d strike back with heavy tariffs following any “disproportionate” penalties against American tech firms… Trump is expected to roll out a wide swath of so-called reciprocal tariffs next week he says are aimed at countering non-tariff barriers, which could include tech regulations.
While the upcoming fines under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act are not expected to be high, Apple in particular may face a broader reputational risk. The company’s penalty is likely to be accompanied by so-called periodic penalty payments, according to the people, who spoke under condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters…
European regulators have used such recurring fines against Apple before. A long-running spat between Apple and the Dutch competition authority over apps led to consecutive weekly fines that ran on for several months, and reached a maximum penalty of €50 million.

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MacDailyNews Take: The EU bureaucrats are being brought to heel.

The Trump administration has been warning the EU against excessive regulation of American technology firms. On February 21st, President Trump issued a directive, “Defending American Companies and Innovators From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties,” threatening to impose tariffs on Europe to combat what he called “overseas extortion” of American tech companies through digital services taxes, fines, practices, and policies.

The European Union arose because the Europeans couldn’t compete on their own with the rest of the world, so they each lined up to surrender their national sovereignty, unique cultures, and dignity for an undemocratic, opaque, wasteful, bloated, bureaucratic quasi-governmental blob – and, even with the EU’s thumbs all over the scale, they still can’t compete. — MacDailyNews, March 4, 2024

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