Trump vows an immediate Section 301 trade probe over the EU's Google fine

President Trump said on July 24 that the United States will “immediately” open a Section 301 investigation into European Union trade practices, days after Brussels fined Google 890 million euros under its Digital Markets Act.

The threat pulls a long-running antitrust dispute into open trade-war territory. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 lets the president investigate and impose tariffs over foreign trade practices deemed unfair, and Trump tied any action directly to the penalties levied on American technology companies.

Trump cited fines against Apple, Meta, Amazon and Google, singling out the European Commission’s July 23 penalty of 890 million euros, roughly $1 billion, over how Google’s Play store and search results favored its own services. He wrote that the US “is not a PIGGYBANK for Europe,” called the fines “ROBBING” of American firms, and predicted “a substantial TARIFF” on the bloc “at the earliest possible moment.”

The messages arrived as his own public posts rather than a formal government action. No White House or US Trade Representative notice documenting the statement or opening a Section 301 case had been published, leaving the timing, scope and legal basis of any investigation undefined.

A Section 301 case would not move quickly. The statute typically runs months of investigation and consultation before any tariffs, and the EU has said its Digital Markets Act enforcement applies equally to all large platforms regardless of nationality.

For now the escalation is rhetorical. Whether it hardens into a formal probe, and how Brussels answers, will determine whether the Google fine becomes the trigger for a wider US-EU tariff fight.