The EU is ready to put pressure on the US by threatening tariffs on its services if negotiations in the ongoing trade war collapse, if there is a trade surplus with the EU, said Ursula von der Reyen of the European Commission.
US Big Tech is also in the vision of Von Der Leyen, who told the Financial Times in an interview that she is ready to introduce taxes to digital ad revenues that clash with technology groups such as Meta, Google and Facebook.
She says the EU uses anti-course tools when necessary, she explains that there are “a wide range of measures” that the committee could develop.
The implementation of this tax will depend on the outcome of negotiations on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean against tariffs. Currently, US President Donald Trump has suspended additional tariffs for 90 days.
Von Der Leyen said he is seeking a “fully balanced” agreement with the Trump administration.
The committee’s chairman also showed she was not opposed to adding product standardization to the agenda of trade debate between the EU and the US, but that “differences in lifestyle and culture” could be an obstacle to reaching agreement.
One item not included in the lecture is the groundbreaking regulations of the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. These EU laws address illegal content in distortions in the online and digital markets, and are firing from US tech giants.
In January, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg promised to oppose EU digital regulations with the help of the Trump administration.
