“A disguised tax”: Donald Trump furious at EU rules hitting GAFAM

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Donald Trump was not physically present at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an event that brings together the cream of global capitalism. That said, his rise to power was at the heart of all the discussions. The American president did not hold back from speaking during this videoconference meeting. The opportunity to say all the bad things he thinks about the European Union rules that affect American tech giants.

Donald Trump takes a stand against the EU

Speaking on this subject, the Republican castigates the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) which have caused a lot of trouble for Google, Meta, and Apple with some hefty fines to boot:

These are American companies, whether you like it or not. They shouldn't be doing this. It's, as far as I'm concerned, a form of taxation. We have very serious complaints against the EU.

We won't know more for the moment, but we can imagine that he will raise this subject during trade talks with the EU. The leader has already openly threatened the 27 member states with an increase in customs tariffs and developments in this area could why not be put in the balance with these DMAs and DSAs that displease the big American technology companies so much.

When Tim Cook complains to Donald Trump

For example, we know that Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, publicly complained about it. Now very close to the newly elected, while Donald Trump previously wanted to “imprison him for life”, the CEO said he wanted to “work with the president to oppose foreign governments that attack American companies to further censor”.

Another recent example, in the middle of the election campaign, Donald Trump said that Apple CEO Tim Cook complained to him about the European Union's behavior towards tech giants. The issue is particularly the recent fines imposed on it and especially the 13 billion euros in tax rulings that Apple must pay to Ireland. According to the European court, the Apple brand benefited from illegal tax aid granted by the Dublin government.

Key takeaways:

• Donald Trump spoke via videoconference at the World Economic Forum in Davos
• The US president has criticized EU rules that impact major US tech companies
• Some CEOs of these companies have themselves complained about the hefty fines they have to pay

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