![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784942109_32_2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 25 Jul 202625 Jul 2026<\/p>\n
United States President Donald Trump has threatened the European Union with steep tariffs and a new trade investigation, saying that the bloc \u201cwill pay a very big price\u201d after Brussels fined Google $1bn over antitrust violations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump called penalties against Google and other US tech firms \u201chighly unethical\u201d, saying on Friday that the US \u201cis not a \u2018PIGGYBANK\u2019 for Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cThis illegal and highly discriminatory practice started at these high levels during the first year of the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, but it\u2019s not going to continue during the Trump Administration,\u201d he wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n The European Commission<\/a> had imposed the fine on Thursday, ruling that Google had breached the bloc\u2019s Digital Markets Act by favouring its own services in search results and restricting app developers from directing users elsewhere.<\/p>\n The penalty adds renewed strain to US-EU relations at a moment when trade tensions between Washington and Brussels had appeared to ease.<\/p>\n Regulators said Google gave preferential placement to its own shopping, travel and other services over rival offerings, and blocked app developers from steering customers towards deals outside its Play Store.<\/p>\n The EU Commission split the penalty roughly in half between the two breaches, giving Google 60 days to change its practices or face periodic fines of up to 5 percent of its average daily turnover.<\/p>\n Teresa Ribera, the commission\u2019s executive vice president overseeing competition policy, on Thursday called the action \u201cdecisive yet balanced\u201d, arguing that products should succeed on merit rather than ownership.<\/p>\n Kent Walker, a Google executive, described the ruling as \u201cproduct degradation\u201d driven by a small number of complainants, insisting that regulation should improve products rather than weaken them.<\/p>\n The EU has fined Google repeatedly since 2017, including a $4.5bn penalty<\/a> over its Android operating system, upheld on appeal this month, and a $3.4bn fine last year<\/a> targeting its advertising business.<\/p>\n The latest penalty also reignites friction with Washington.<\/p>\n