EU’s Digital Markets Act Under Fire from US Lawmakers

U.S. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan has pressed European Union antitrust chief Teresa Ribera to clarify the enforcement of the EU’s stringent regulations on Big Tech, citing concerns that they disproportionately impact American companies. According to Reuters, Jordan’s request came just two days after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a memorandum signaling his administration’s intention to closely examine the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA).

The Digital Markets Act, which outlines specific obligations for tech giants such as Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking.com, ByteDance, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, is designed to ensure fair competition and expand consumer choices. However, per Reuters, Jordan expressed apprehensions in a letter sent to Ribera on Sunday, arguing that the rules impose excessive regulatory burdens on U.S. firms while potentially giving European competitors an unfair advantage.

“We write to express our concerns that the DMA may target American companies,” Jordan stated in the letter, as reported by Reuters. He particularly criticized the steep penalties for non-compliance, which can reach up to 10% of a company’s global annual revenue. These fines, he argued, effectively function as a mechanism to enforce European standards beyond the EU’s borders and could be interpreted as a financial penalty levied primarily against U.S. businesses.

Read more: UK Antitrust Regulator Targets Microsoft Over Cloud Services Dominance

Additionally, Jordan raised concerns about certain provisions within the DMA, asserting that they might inadvertently benefit China. According to Reuters, he contended that these regulations could hinder innovation, discourage investment in research and development, and expose sensitive proprietary data to foreign companies and potentially adversarial nations.

In his letter, Jordan urged Ribera to provide a briefing to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee by March 10 to address these concerns. However, the European Commission, where Ribera serves as the second most powerful official after President Ursula von der Leyen, has consistently denied that the DMA specifically targets American corporations. In a recent interview with Reuters, Ribera emphasized that the EU’s legislative framework, approved by lawmakers, should not be subject to external pressures for modification.

Source: Reuters