Norquist warns Europe trying to push U.S. firms out of digital economy

Amid ongoing trade disputes between the European Union and the United States, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist has warned that the former is attempting to pressure American firms out of the continent's digital economy through aggressive regulations and fines.

In a Fox News op-ed this week, Norquist pointed to the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and the anti-American Digital Markets Act (DMA), insisting they were targeted at American firms and imposed burdensome censorship requirements that generate "millions of dollars in fines and taxes fueling the EU welfare state at the expense of America."

"This is not regulation; it’s non-tariff protectionism disguised as principle," he declared. "Europe benefits from U.S.-built platforms, including cloud services, AI models and digital infrastructure, while punishing the innovators who created them."

American companies have notably feuded with the European Union in recent years. The Elon Musk-led X, for instance, signed an EU code of conduct in February focused on "countering illegal hate speech online." Musk attracted considerable scrutiny from EU leaders over his platform's permissive attitude toward speech that ran afoul of European laws.

Norquist, for his part, further highlighted that 80% of European digital technologies come from abroad, mostly from the United States, and warned that a failure to work with Americans in the digital sphere would risk Chinese dominance.

"Europe’s leaders must recognize their role in escalating trade tensions and commit to a unified front," he warned. "Let us innovate together, compete together, and halt China’s march toward economic and technological dominance."