Trump slams European Union for tech fines, lawsuits, in wake of new tariffs

President Donald Trump on Thursday railed against the European Union (EU) for imposing new tariffs and filing lawsuits against U.S. technology companies like Apple and Google, that ended up costing the companies billions of dollars. 

The EU announced retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Wednesday, on 26 billion euros ($28.33 billion) worth of U.S. goods that would go into effect in April. Trump had struck first by imposing 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

The president complained at the White House about steep tariffs on U.S.-made cars in Europe, along with an EU decision in September that forced Apple to pay $16 billion in fines for antitrust issues, per The Hill. 

“We sell no cars to Europe, I mean, virtually no cars, and they sell millions of car to us,"  Trump said. "They don’t take our agriculture. We take their agriculture — it’s like a one way street with them. The European Union is very, very nasty.

“They sue our companies. Apple was forced to pay $16 billion on a case that … like my cases that I won. They shouldn’t have been even cases," he continued. "We felt they had no case, and they ended up having an extremely favorable judge and decision. But they’re suing Google, they’re suing Facebook, they’re suing all of these companies, and they’re taking billions of dollars out of American companies.”

The rant comes the same day that Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on European alcohol, including champagne and wine. The threat comes after Europe imposed a tariff on U.S. whiskey.

The U.S. is also engaged in other trade wars, including one with Canada and Mexico that was enacted to stem the illegal flow of drugs like fentanyl into the country.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.