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Apple & Google face antitrust charges as EU defies threat of Trump tariffs

The EU is moving forward with allegations against Google and Apple under the DMA, despite threats of retaliatory tariffs by Donald Trump.

TJ Denzer

March 19, 2025 4:12 PM

Image via European Union

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The European Union is moving forward with antitrust allegations against Apple and Google for monopolistic practices barred by the Digital Markets Act. The EU is continuing these cases despite pressure from United States President Donald Trump’s threat of retaliatory tariffs should the EU push legislature against the business practices of American tech giants.

The EU shared its plans to go forward with these accusations against Apple and Google this week, as reported by CNBC. The Union alleges that Google has used its search engine dominance to favor the company’s own services in search results and push down results that would lead to competitors. The EU has been investigating Google at least since 2023 on this particular topic, and has officially decided that these practices violate the DMA, which was signed into law in the EU in 2022.

Similarly, Apple finds itself on the wrong side of the DMA for its alleged “walled-garden” app ecosystem. The EU was investigating allegations that Apple was prohibiting developers from guiding users to alternative solutions to the App Store on iOS. The EU has since found these allegations to be true and has demanded that Apple provide interoperability for its iOS devices – that is, the ability to port data from one platform to another.

Both actions come in defiance of current President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure Europe into compliance with his economic policies. Despite Trump threatening to take action against the EU over alleged excessive regulation of US tech companies by way of tariffs, the EU responded by enacting an “anti-coercion” countermeasure that would allow the union to act swiftly in case of economic coercion against EU national members.

As Google and Apple seemingly skirt the rules to maintain their dominance in the tech industry, it seems regulatory proceedings between Europe and the US are going to continue to grow more intense. Stay tuned to the European Union topic for more updates and news on this story.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.