A man holds an Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max ahead of the launch of sales of the new iPhone 16 series smartphones in a store in Moscow, Russia September 20, 2024.
Evgenia Novozhenina | Reuters
European Union regulators are taking steps to rein in Google and Apple on antitrust charges, even as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to hit the bloc with tariffs for alleged “overseas extortion” of America’s tech giants.
The European Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, said Wednesday that it found Google parent company Alphabet in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) — a landmark law aimed at tackling tech competition issues — with its Search and Google Play products.
The bloc accused Google Search of treating Alphabet’s own services more favorably compared to rival ones — a practice known as “self-preferencing,” which is not permitted under the DMA.
The EU also said Google Play, Alphabet’s mobile app store, prevents app developers from freely steering consumers to alternatives.
Google has yet to respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Apple guidance
Separately, the Commission also sent guidance to Apple under the DMA calling for the iPhone maker to take concrete steps to comply with its interoperability obligation under EU competition rules.
Interoperability refers to the practice of enabling different platforms to communicate with one another more easily — in other words, you should be able to more smoothly port data from one system to another.
The bloc said that Apple should enable interoperability in its iOS mobile operating system in a way that allows third parties to “develop innovative products and services on Apple’s gatekeeper platforms.”
In response to the EU’s measures Wednesday, Apple said that the moves “wrap us in red tape, slowing down Apple’s ability to innovate for users in Europe and forcing us to give away our new features for free to companies who don’t have to play by the same rules.”
“We will continue to work with the European Commission to help them understand our concerns on behalf of our users,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNBC.
Trump tariff threat
The Digital Markets Act is a landmark law that aims to bring down barriers to competition in the technology sector, in response to the rise of giants like Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft.
The moves Wednesday come as the Trump administration has been warning the EU against excessive regulation of American technology giants.
Last month, Trump issued a directive threatening to impose tariffs on Europe to combat what he called “overseas extortion” of American tech companies through digital services taxes, fines, practices and policies.
In response, the EU reportedly threatened to use a new “anti-coercion” instrument enabling the bloc to take action in cases of economic coercion against EU member states.
