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EU Technology Regulations Survive in US Trade Deal

By  |  July 29, 2025

The framework trade deal reached Sunday between the U.S. and European Union is a mixed bag for U.S. technology companies. On the plus side, the deal takes off the table, at least for now, the additional tax on technology companies the EU had included in its package of retaliatory measures if a deal were not reached. On the down side, U.S. tech companies appear not to be getting relief from the EU’s marquee technology regulations, the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, and the AI Act, the Washington Post reports.

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    Prior to the final talks, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representatives issued a list of demands for any agreement. Among them 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.

    The EU strongly opposed those demands, however, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stuck to that opposition in face-to-face talks with President Trump. “There is absolutely no commitment on digital regulation, nor on digital taxes,” a senior EU official told Politico.

    In April, the Commission fined Meta and Apple €200 million ($234m) and €500 million ($585m), respectively, for non-compliance with the DMA, and threatened additional penalties if they did not remedy the problems within 60 days. Apple made changes to its App Store payment system that the EU is expected to approve, but Apple filed suit against the original fine in the EU General Court earlier this month, according to the BBC.

    Read more: EU Publishes Mandatory Template for Disclosing AI Training Data

    With no agreement in the trade deal to relax enforcement of the DMA, Meta could still face additional fines.

    One concession the U.S. did win was a commitment by the EU to continue purchasing GPU chips from the U.S. “U.S. AI chips will help power our AI gigafactories and help the U.S. to maintain their technological edge,” von der Leyen said. The commitment was part of a “zero-for-zero” agreement as part of the deal under which European chipmaking equipment will be exempt from the deal’s 15% base-line tariff on EU goods.

    Dutch chip printing machine maker ASML is a leading manufacturer and exporter of the multi-million-euro apparatuses.

    Some in Europe objected to the chip deal, claiming it will undermine European tech sovereignty. “Only by advancing a genuine strategy for technological autonomy can Europe reclaim political sovereignty and boost its economic competitiveness.” European Digital SME Alliance president Dr Oliver Grün, said in a statement provided to Tech.eu.

    While Trump trumpeted the deal as the “biggest in history,” there is as yet no legally biding written agreement. Further negotiations lay ahead before any deal is finalized.