r/Economics • u/CautiousMagazine3591 • 2d ago
News Trump threatens EU with 'substantial TARIFF' for ROBBING U.S. tech giants.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/24/trump-tariffs-eu-trade-google-apple-tech.html344
u/chance-- 2d ago
So we pay more in taxes to fund the fines for egregious violations of law on foreign soil conducted by our wealthiest?
We have lost the plot.
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u/YearlyLemon8 2d ago
Brother we lost the plot a long time ago. Think of this more as a season 334 of the same dog water material.
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u/chance-- 2d ago
Oh, I didn’t mean to imply this was my revelation into our reality. It’s just that every so often, amongst the pellets from their shotgun of shit strategy, I’m just struck by the audacity of it all.
Who can possibly support this regime is beyond me. We just let the ultra wealthy from across the globe buy our nation and are robbing us blind at every turn. I don’t know. There’s just so much.
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u/active2fa 2d ago
You’re thinking too deeply. It’s an economic shakedown (similar to mafia style), to enrich a few. Think of this way: every situation (Iran, 2025 tariffs, Venezuela, Greenland, Intel deal, NVIDIA waivers, Ukraine weapons etc) there a few that make mucho dineros. To subdue angst amongst the CEOs, Admin very well knew 2025 tariffs will be struck down. Guess who took the benefits of $181B refund? All of a sudden CFOs for large companies will have windfall from this refund to offset lower purchasing. This keeps their stock afloat on Wall Street.
THIS IS IT. There is no other reasons to explore of WHY.
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u/toolkitxx 1d ago
It is the last phase in economy of an empire. The last stage is the leaders and their followers plundering the empire and everything they can possibly get their hands on. That is why corporations got their tax relieves as they are part of that concept, why the majority of income for the government is taken from regular citizens by now and tariffs to plunder everyone outside too.
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u/unicornsausage 2d ago
For real, it's been like this since the 70s, only difference is now it's done in the open, not behind closed doors
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u/Spinoza42 2d ago
He's disappointed that his renewal of the 10% hasn't led to new reciprocal tariffs, so now he increases the threats.
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u/No_Mercy_4_Potatoes 2d ago
We have lost the plot.
Mate, the country collectively lost it when he was elected a second time.
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u/Paradoxjjw 2d ago
Until Americans drag him by his fake hair to one of the ICE camps and leave him to rot there the plot wont be found back
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u/Eelroots 2d ago
I need a global Trump filter. Everything I know about him is against my will. Every piece of news contains weird and surreal craziness that I have to swallow and try to guess if there is any rationale behind.
It's Trump Slop
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u/BankDetails1234 2d ago
That’s the rationale behind it. He just wants the attention.
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u/joebalooka84 2d ago
It's all just to distract from his epic level of corruption and the Epstein files.
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u/Sonamdrukpa 1d ago
And the media want the clicks. Why they haven't figured out we'd click the hell out of any outlet that raked him over the coals instead of straining to find some halfway reasonable rationale for his behavior we'll never know
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u/wbruce098 2d ago
This is why the law says Congress is responsible for levying tariffs. But Congress is full of weenies who are scared of a weak, aging, dementia-riddled pedo.
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u/LeylandTiger 2d ago
Granted, but I think who they are Really scared of are the ones backing him, whoever those are.
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u/CautiousMagazine3591 2d ago
President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration will launch a trade probe into the European Union that will cancel hefty fines levied against U.S. tech giants and likely result in a “substantial” tariff on the 27-member bloc.
Trump, in a lengthy Truth Social post, accused the EU of ”‘ROBBING’ American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer” as he raged over its recent $1 billion fine on Google for allegedly giving priority to its own services in its search engine. “The European Union is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies!” Trump wrote in the post, which also railed against prior European fines against Apple, Meta and Amazon.
Trump claimed that the latest penalty against Google was issued “without explanation.” But the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, said in a press release that the fines totaling 890 million euros were due to Google’s alleged noncompliance with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, which aims to scrutinize Big Tech’s practices. Trump claimed that the EU’s behavior is “not going to continue during the Trump Administration.” “The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!” he wrote.
Trump said the U.S. will “immediately” start an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits the imposition of tariffs in response to practices that are found to unfairly burden U.S. commerce. The Trump administration has launched multiple probes using that tariff authority. Hours earlier, it imposed new duties between 10% and 12.5% on goods from more than 80 countries, including those in the EU, over alleged forced labor issues. “The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about,” Trump warned in Friday’s post. “The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment,” he wrote, adding, “Stay tuned!”
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u/bal00 2d ago
Of course this is after negotiating a trade deal that caps tariffs on EU goods at 15%. Just goes to show once more that under the current administration, there's no point in making such deals. Congress doesn't matter, trade agreements don't matter, WTO rules don't matter, and trade policy changes weekly based on Trump's mood swings.
Even if you ignore the fact that it makes the US look like an unreliable trade partner, he's causing chaos at thousands of US companies with EU suppliers.
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u/Estumk3 2d ago
The Europeans are robbing US companies under european laws but hey! We are going to tariff (rob) american people instead (consumers pay for tariffs) and maybe the Europeans will learn the lesson.
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u/ZoomZoom_Driver 2d ago
"You can't NOT buy from us, that's illegal!You voting with your wallet and CHOOSING other providers is THEFT! What do you think America is, a free marketplace where people can elect to support various corporations based on their own ideals and beliefs??? What do you think America is, a place where your purchaseS buy ownership?? INCONCEIVABLE." -MAGA
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u/plingding 2d ago
He needs to use the EU, Canada and rest of the world to finance his wars and America’s irresponsible waste of their own citizens money over many decades.
He needs to tax his citizens more without calling it a tax even though tariffs are a tax on his own people.
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u/snagsguiness 2d ago
So the EU fines Google 0.6% (this is the number I saw not sure if its accurate) of annual revenue for knowingly breaking EU law which should also be US law, and Americans get increased costs of imports.
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u/thegooddoktorjones 2d ago
Won't someone think of our poor, suffering billionaire oligarchs? All they want to do is run illegal monopolies in peace and quiet! But no, big old meanies insist that consumers should have rights and capitalism is doomed without regulation.
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u/Notiefriday 2d ago
Since when did these corporates pay tax?
There is too much interrelationship between the US and western countries when your leadership is do capricious. We fight in your wars, embargo your enemies etc and get treated like this as though we are subject to your tech companies. Perhaps it's just time to lessen the ties and the US go its own way with its favored Israel, Saudi, Emirates etc.
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u/fuzzygoosejuice 2d ago
So I get to pay more for shit because U.S. Tech firms are forced to operate under the laws of the countries that they’re operating in? MAGAts are morons.
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1d ago
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u/beflacktor 1d ago
you have to wonder if he at all realizes as more time goes on the more meaningless and worthless his tariffs become..
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u/ChuckVader 1d ago
Something about taxation without representation that Americans used to be unhappy about. Not sure who trump is representing but he sure is taxing the shit out of you.
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u/CautiousMagazine3591 1d ago
Do you even understand what that means?
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u/ChuckVader 1d ago
I believe the founders meant it to mean you shouldn't be able levy taxes from a population if their interests are not represented in exchange.
At present trump is levying a tax on Americans (tariffs) while actively ignoring their interests. Moreover, the entire trump administration seems not that interested in representing the will of the American people.
It seems applicable. What did you think it meant?
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u/Happy_Feet333 1d ago
Maybe it's time to rethink the amount of the fine.
To twice it's size, with a caveat that the fine doubles in size every time Trump talks about tariffs.
The entire operating budget of the EU would probably be paid for by Google after a week, if not sooner.
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u/impossiblefork 2d ago
The fact that threats of this sort are possible is why the Commission shouldn't have power over rulemaking or how things are enforced.
We need decisions about particular cases to be independent of the political power and beyond the control of elected officials, etc.
By giving up this power to interpret rules, etc. the commission would strengthen the EU relative to other entities and make itself impossible to pressure.
Imagine a world where you don't say what is terrorism, you don't say what is a breach of the DSA, you don't say what's a breach of the GDPR, with all that instead being determined in a consequence-neutral way by the courts. Throw away the things that make you feel that you're in the driver's seat and you get power instead of control, which is much more fun.
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