The letter that 'proves' Donald Trump 2.0 may mean end of 'European nightmare' for Apple, Microsoft and Google

It seems the European Nightmare may soon be over for Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and other American companies. The US House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan has reportedly asked EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera to make it clear how she enforces the European Union's rules reining in Big Tech. For those unaware, Big Tech is five major American technology companies: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet's Google. The term was originally FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google). The second 'A' in FAANG for Apple was added in 2017.
Jordan said that EU rules appear to be targeting American companies. The request came two days after the US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to defend American companies and technology from what he termed as "overseas extortion". His warning specifically targeted EU tech regulations like the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) with threats of tariff retaliation.
"We write to express our concerns that the DMA may target American companies," Jordan reportedly wrote in a letter sent to Ribera and seen by news agency Reuters. It said that the rules subject American companies to burdensome regulations and give European companies an advantage.
Scott Fitzgerald, chairman of the subcommittee on administrative state, regulatory reform and antitrust, was a co-signatory to the letter. The letter slammed fines up to 10% of global annual revenues for DMA violations. "These severe fines appear to have two goals: to compel businesses to follow European standards worldwide, and as a European tax on American companies," Jordan and Fitzgerald said.
Without directly naming China, the letter said that EU laws help rival nations. "These, along with other provisions of the DMA, stifle innovation, disincentivize research and development, and hand vast amounts of highly valuable proprietary data to companies and adversarial nations," the letter said.
"The Administration will review whether any act, policy, or practice in the European Union or United Kingdom incentivizes U.S. companies to develop or use products and technology in ways that undermine free speech or foster censorship," said the directive. It specifically mentioned Europe's DMA and DSA. "Regulations that dictate how American companies interact with consumers in the European Union, like the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, will face scrutiny from the Administration," said the directive.
It criticized EU laws for imposing unnecessary taxes on American companies, stating, "Instead of setting up their own businesses and workers for success, foreign governments have been taxing the success of America's companies and workers."