EU Officials Warn of Trade Fallout Over Trump’s Tech Tariff Threat

It’s been quite the end to summer in Brussels, as EU officials rally together amid rising tensions with Washington over tech regulations. US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on countries regulating US tech firms have sparked a wave of sharp and more public pushback from EU officials, bringing trade tensions back to the forefront.

European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera warned Friday that the EU must be ready to rethink its trade relationship with the US if Washington presses ahead with its attacks on the bloc’s flagship Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA). Speaking to The Financial Times, Ribera urged Brussels to “be courageous and avoid the temptation of being subordinated to others’ interests,” underscoring a firm stance against diluting Europe’s digital rulebook to placate US demands.

Echoing Ribera’s tough tone, EU Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné told reporters Wednesday that if the US continues pushing for deregulation of Europe’s tech sector, “the trade deal will have to be reviewed.”

Meanwhile, Thierry Breton, the former European Commissioner for the Internal Market, declined an invitation to testify next week at a US House Judiciary Committee hearing aimed at discussing “Europe’s threat to American speech and innovation.” "I respectfully regret to inform you that I will not be able to participate,” Breton wrote in a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the head of the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee. Breton pointed the lawmakers to an op-ed he published in The Guardian, where he emphasized that Europe remained an open market, provided its laws and democratic sovereignty were respected.

Brussels also pushed back hard against US claims that its tech rules amount to censorship. A Commission spokesperson dismissed the allegations as “complete nonsense” and “completely unfounded,” highlighting that the DSA actually gives users the power to challenge content removals. Data from TikTok and Meta showed that 35% of contested takedowns were reversed, the spokesperson said, framing this as a defense of free speech rather than suppression.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron has called on the EU to consider retaliatory measures against the US digital sector following President Trump’s tariff threats. According to Politico, Macron emphasized the bloc’s significant trade deficit in services with the US and suggested a stronger European response could include targeted sanctions.

Adding to the growing EU pushback, the European Parliament’s liberal Renew group warned that the bloc will not rewrite its laws under threat, describing the DSA and DMA as “non-discriminatory, pro-competition, and here to stay.” Valérie Hayer, President of Renew Europe, said: “Threats of punitive tariffs or export blackmail will not change EU law. We stand ready for dialogue with the United States—but we will never negotiate Europe’s legislation under threats. We make law through our own European democratic process, not by foreign pressure. Allies don't bully allies.”

“The sooner Europe wakes up, the better its chances of preserving democracy,” German Greens Member of Parliament Alexandra Geese wrote in Tech Policy Press.