The EU chief’s comments come on the heels of Facebook-parent Meta being fined €200 million after the European Commission ruled that the company’s ‘Consent or Pay’ model was in violation of its rules.

The European Union’s increased scrutiny of Apple (AAPL), Meta Platforms (META), and Alphabet’s (GOOG/GOOGL) Google does not mean to “challenge” the ongoing trade negotiations between President Donald Trump and the trade bloc, EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said on Friday.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Ribera brushed aside the idea that the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which has brought a number of disciplinary measures against U.S. tech giants and has been slammed by Trump as an unfair tax on Silicon Valley, is any kind of bargaining chip in the tariff negotiations between the U.S. and the E.U.

“We do not challenge the United States on how they implement their rules or how they adopt regulations,” Ribera said. “We deserve respect in the same way.”

Meta’s stock was up 0.85% in pre-market trade on Friday, while Apple and Alphabet’s stock edged 0.5% higher.

The EU chief’s comments come on the heels of Facebook-parent Meta being fined €200 million ($234 million) on Friday after the European Commission ruled that the company’s ‘Consent or Pay’ model violated its rules. 

The Commission also warned that the Mark Zuckerberg-owned enterprise could face additional daily fines if it doesn’t fix the problem within the next 60 days.

Similarly, Apple has come under fire for not allowing third-party developers to direct customers away from the Apple ecosystem to make purchases. The iPhone maker just implemented changes to its App Store to appease the Commission after already having paid a €500 million ($580 million) fine. 

Meanwhile, Google has been fighting to overturn a record €4.1 billion ($4.7 billion) antitrust fine, which was reduced in 2022 by the EU’s General Court from €4.34 billion, but without much luck. Last week, a judge of the trading bloc’s top court – the European Court of Justice – advised the court to throw out Google’s appeal and confirm the fine.

The EU is reportedly racing to finalize a trade deal with the US before the tariffs on its exports to the US jump to 50% after the July 9 deadline. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, EU leaders have been debating whether they want to lower tariffs on a range of U.S. imports to speed up the process. 

However, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that the deadline is “not critical,” but whether or not an extension will happen depends on President Trump.

(Exchange rate: €1 = $1.17)<

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