US threatens complaints, seeks talks on EU digital rules

The United States has warned the European Union that its digital rule book could damage trans-Atlantic relations unless ￰0￱ contends that the laws unfairly saddle American tech companies with liability and would limit free speech on the ￰1￱ alert is being issued even as Europe cracks down on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). These laws, which are aimed at controlling powerful platforms and online content, are already facing stiff pushback from US companies operating in Russia, including Apple and Meta’s Facebook and ￰2￱ demands changes to EU laws Andrew Puzder, Donald Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, has ramped up Washington’s assault on Europe’s digital rulebook.

Puzder, speaking in Brussels, said the US will send formal submissions to the European Commission outlining its concerns next ￰3￱ idea, he said, is to initiate direct discussions with EU officials on how those regulations are shaped and how they impact American ￰4￱ to the dispute are two flagship bills: a Digital Markets Act (DMA) that seeks to curb the power that “gatekeepers” like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta exercise over smaller companies; and a Digital Services Act (DSA) intended to make platforms police illegal or harmful ￰5￱ laws are among the most ambitious tech regulations globally, and they are rewriting how online companies can act in ￰6￱ argued that although the legislation was written to appear neutral, it placed heavier restrictions on American companies than European ￰7￱ said Europeans considered the rules more lenient than the US believed, and stressed that both sides needed to review the acts ￰8￱ claimed that no American president, whether Republican or Democrat, could remain passive if restrictions were imposed on US businesses or citizens’ basic ￰9￱ added that if the legislation tended to impose economic pain on competitors outside Europe to benefit European industry, the United States would strongly oppose ￰10￱ Trump has echoed these fears and threatened that his administration will retaliate if some American businesses are treated ￰11￱ had threatened retaliatory tariffs and other trade measures against countries that “discriminate” against American tech ￰12￱ this year, Trump suggested that allies could see higher duties imposed on cars and other products if they did not address digital rules the US views as detrimental to its ￰13￱ tough talk serves as one illustration of how seriously Washington is taking Europe’s digital ￰14￱ the US and EU recently secured a trade deal that held off an escalation of tariffs, the friction over tech regulation runs the risk of resurrecting tensions just as both sides had embraced improved ￰15￱ defends its digital sovereignty The European Commission has denied that the move is ￰16￱ have said the rules are impartial and apply to any company, regardless of where it is ￰17￱ contend that the laws are necessary to ensure fairer competition and safer online ￰18￱ and Germany have backed Brussels out in the ￰19￱ governments said Europe has the authority to regulate its digital market without being forced by ￰20￱ Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, said the DMA was necessary to prevent powerful platforms from running ￰21￱ said the bloc will not relax or cancel its standards under pressure from the US.

Meanwhile, the Commission has initiated a public consultation on potential simplification of the digital ￰22￱ worry the process could water down protections, while industry lobbyists seek weaker ￰23￱ consultation is open for responses until October ￰24￱ fight over digital regulation risks overshadowing recent improvements in US-EU ￰25￱ parties agreed to a broad trade deal that staved off a transatlantic trade war in ￰26￱ the digital standoff may strain that ￰27￱ from the US to retaliate on one side and pledges of EU sovereignty on the other set the stage for a tough negotiation in the months ￰28￱ Bybit now and claim a $50 bonus in minutes