Trump admin threatens retaliation against Spotify and others over EU tech regulation

Dec 17, 2025 - 04:30

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Trump admin threatens retaliation against Spotify and others over EU tech regulation

Richard Lawler

is a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.

The Office of the US Trade Representative posted on X Tuesday, claiming that US service providers have been hit by “a continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines, and directives” from the EU. Earlier this month, X was fined $140 million under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), in addition to new laws, fines, and investigations that have affected US tech giants like Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta over the past few years.

The unsigned post specifically named several European tech companies: Accenture, Amadeus, Capgemini, DHL, Mistral, Publicis, SAP, Siemens, and Spotify. It claimed that if the “discriminatory” activity continued, then the US would respond, and that “U.S. law permits the assessment of fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions.”

In a statement given to the New York Times and AFP, European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said in response that it would continue to work with the US to implement a trade deal, and that “As we have made clear many times, our rules apply equally and fairly to all companies operating in the EU. We will continue to enforce our rules fairly, and without discrimination.”

US Trade Representative:

The European Union and certain EU Member States have persisted in a continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines, and directives against U.S. service providers. U.S. services companies provide substantial free services to EU citizens and reliable enterprise services to EU companies, and they support millions of jobs and more than $100 billion in direct investment in Europe. The United States has raised concerns with the EU for years on these matters without meaningful engagement or basic acknowledgement of U.S. concerns.

In stark contrast, EU service providers have been able to operate freely in the United States for decades, benefitting from access to our market and consumers on a level playing field. Some of the largest EU service providers that have hitherto enjoyed this expansive market access include, among others:

— Accenture
— Amadeus
— Capgemini
— DHL
— Mistral
— Publicis
— SAP
— Siemens
— Spotify

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. Should responsive measures be necessary, U.S. law permits the assessment of fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions. The United States will take a similar approach to other countries that pursue an EU-style strategy in this area.

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