EU Tech Regs Still a Sticking Point in Trade Talks With US as Deadline Nears

According to multiple news reports, a document outlining U.S. demands issued by the U.S. Trade Representative ahead of talks last month called for the U.S. and E.U. to enter a dialog on how to implement the Digital Markets Act and to exempt U.S. companies from enforcement of the rules pending the outcome of those discussions. It also spelled out U.S. objections to the Digital Services Act and the AI Act. But last week, the European Commission’s technology chief Henna Virkkunen told Politico the digital regs are not up for negotiation.

“The [Digital Services Act], the [Digital Markets Act] and the AI Act of course, these are very important rules for us to make sure that we have trustworthy technologies,” Virkkunen said in an interview. “So, this is not part of trade negotiations from our side.”

The Trump administration has been sharply critical of the Europeans’ technology rules, accusing the E.U. of unfairly targeting U.S. companies. In April, the Commission fined Meta and Apple €200 million ($234m) and €500 million ($585m), respectively, for non-compliance with the DMA, but delayed enforcing the penalties for 60 days to give the companies time to rectify the problems. The companies each made adjustments to their operations by the deadline, but the Commission would not immediately confirm whether those changes were sufficient to avoid the fines.

On Monday, Apple appealed the Commission’s ruling in the General Court in Luxembourg, the E.U.’s second highest tribunal, the BBC reported.

Read more: Google to Warn EU Regulators That New Tech Rules May Stifle Innovation

“As our appeal will show, the [Commission] is mandating how we run our store and forcing business terms which are confusing for developers and bad for users,” Apple said in a statement. “We implemented this to avoid punitive daily fines and will share the facts with the Court.”

Europe is not alone in facing U.S. pressure over technology regulations in trade talks. Last week a group of 41 Republican members of Congress wrote to U.S. Trade Rep Jamieson Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, urging the administration to address the Korean government’s tech policies the lawmakers claim unfairly target U.S. companies, the Korea Times reported. On Monday, Trump slapped a 25% tariff on goods from Korea and Japan after trade talks with those countries failed to reach agreements.

As of Monday, E.U. officials were still hoping to reach at least a limited trade deal with the U.S. similar to the “framework” deal announced last month with the U.K.

“We’re working towards July 9 as the point where we want to have an agreement in principle at a minimum with the U.S.,” Olof Gill, the Commission’s trade spokesperson, told reporters. But he blamed the U.S. for constantly moving the goalposts in the negotiations. “They’re the ones who say things, then say other things and then say new things,” he said.