European Commission Vice-President Theresa Rivera called on the European Union to respond “courageously” to U.S. President Trump’s threats on digital regulation and avoid submission to other countries. Rivera said that in previous trade talks with the U.S. the EU tried to act friendly in the hope of finding ways to solve problems and differences, but the EU cannot accept any demands made by the Trump administration. We cannot submit to the will of other countries. Rivera said the EU should be prepared to abandon a trade deal with Trump to protect its technology regulatory regulations.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on August 27 that Europe should consider retaliating against U.S. technology companies in the face of Trump’s threats in technology regulatory regulations.
US, EU Agree Trade Agreement Framework
On August 21, local time, the White House issued a joint statement with the European Union stating that the United States and the European Union had reached an agreement on the framework of a trade agreement. The EU also issued a joint statement later.
According to the statement released by the White House, the U.S.-EU trade agreement framework has 19 key items, covering agricultural products, automobiles, aircraft and other industrial products, chip semiconductors, energy, EU investment in the U.S., easing environmental protection regulatory restrictions, cybersecurity agreements, digital trade barriers and many other content.
Trump threatens digital regulation with tariffs EU reaffirms authority to set digital policy
On August 26, local time, U.S. President Trump posted a message on social media warning all countries that implement digital regulation and digital taxes, saying that unless these countries withdraw discriminatory measures against U.S. companies, they will impose additional high tariffs on their goods exported to the United States and restrict the export of high-tech products such as chips to these countries. According to people familiar with the matter, the Trump administration is considering imposing sanctions on officials from the EU and its member states who push for the implementation of the EU digital bill.
EU Commission spokeswoman Tula Pino said at a routine press conference on 26th that regulating domestic economic activities is the sovereign right of the EU and its member states, this issue is not in the framework agreement of the EU-US trade agreement, both are completely different issues.