Donald Trump has sent a furious warning to the European Union as tensions between the US President and bloc soar to explosive levels. In a blistering rant on his Truth Social platform, Trump accused the EU of “as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies!”.
The 80-year-old claimed the bloc has unfairly levied billions of dollars of fines against Google, Apple and other US tech giants, announcing that the US will open a formal investigation into the European Union’s trade practices. Trump made the announcement a day after the EU hit Google with a fine of €890million (around £759million) after it was alleged that the technology behemoth broke digital antitrust regulations by setting up Google Play and its ubiquitous search engine to corral consumers towards its own services and apps to the detriment of competitors.
Trump raged that US is “not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!” He added: “The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about.”
The Republican said that the US will “immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of ‘ROBBING’ American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer”.
Express.co.uk has approached The European Commission for comment.
It comes after Trump hit 60 countries with trade tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% citing forced labour concerns.
The US trade department said the import taxes are being imposed on countries it claims have not taken action to tackle the importing of goods made with forced labour.
The levies target dozens of major trading partners including China, the European Union, and the UK.
They are being brought in to replace temporary 10% levies as they came to an end on Friday, having been declared illegal by the US supreme court in February.
Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs on imports from the UK and Europe that introduce digital services taxes, with Britain having said it will impose a 2% levy on the revenue of big tech firms.
The US President has consistently accused allies and partners of the Washington of “ripping off” the US, and has used tariffs in an attempt to exert pressure on foreign leaders.
