Trump uses Google fine as ammunition against the EU

Vox - All by Li Zhou

His latest Twitter attack comes amid looming talk of auto tariffs.

President Donald Trump on Thursday used a recent fine against Google to fuel his complaints about the European Union. In a tweet, he seemed to suggest that this penalty was yet another sign of the EU’s abuse of the US — an argument he’s increasingly stressed in recent days as he makes the case for imposing potential auto tariffs on the longtime American ally.

“I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google,” Trump wrote. “They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!”

Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
 I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!
9:11 AM - Jul 19, 2018
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The “Five Billion Dollar fine” Trump is referring to is a record penalty the EU levied against Google for antitrust violations this week. On Wednesday, the EU concluded a multiyear investigation and announced that it would punish Google for trying to bundle its own apps with its Android operating system.

Basically, the EU argues that Google forced phone makers to preinstall its Search and Browser apps onto Android phones, giving its products an unfair advantage over those of competitors. It’s the second multibillion-dollar antitrust-related fine the EU has hit Google with this year.

Trump’s attack comes as the US continues to navigate a strained relationship with the EU, one of several allies that the president has become more combative with in the past month. In early July, he called the EU “as bad as China” when it comes to trade practices, and more recently, he’s threatened impose sweeping auto tariffs as “retribution.”

Trump’s antagonism toward the US ally, which he’s gone so far as to call a “foe,” has puzzled observers, especially after he’s skirted direct confrontations with Russia on the issue of election interference. “In a trade sense, they’ve really taken advantage of us, and many of those countries are in NATO and they weren’t paying their bills,” Trump said in a CBS News interview lambasting the EU.

The Google fine is only the latest ammunition Trump is using to argue that the EU has treated the US unfairly.

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https://www.vox.com/2018/7/19/17590376/trump-eu-trade-google