Many tech stocks have trended downward this week, keeping with their performance for most of the month. So far, March 2025 has been marked by high economic uncertainty as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have pushed down entire industries.
With market conditions showing no signs of easing, the outlook for even the Magnificent 7 tech stocks, responsible for much of the sector’s growth, remains highly questionable. The prospect of higher business costs and rising consumer prices has prompted many people to scale back their spending significantly.
The current state of the U.S. economy doesn’t offer much hope to most companies right now. But for two U.S. tech leaders, things aren’t looking much better on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean either.
Regulatory authorities from the European Union (EU) have announced that they will be taking action against two prominent tech companies.
The European Commission of the EU is moving forward with legal action against two U.S. tech companies.
EU authorities are coming after two U.S. tech leaders
In the U.S., both President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have taken steps to usher in a new era marked by less regulation for American companies. However, the EU’s leaders have taken a starkly different approach, making it clear that U.S. tech leaders will have to play by their rules.
On March 19, EU regulators announced they would be moving forward with legal action against Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL) . If successful, these initiatives will force both companies to change important aspects of their businesses and may lead to fairer practices across the continent.
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The European Commission, the executive branch of the bloc of twenty-seven nations, has accused both companies of engaging in anti-competitive tactics that unfairly box out smaller competitors, putting them in violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Passed in 2022, this policy promotes fair competition in the European markets by stopping large companies from keeping smaller ones out of their industry through unfair practices.
As the New York Times reports:
“The commission said a preliminary judgment had found that Google violated the 2022 law, the Digital Markets Act, by using its dominant search engine to steer users to other Google services, giving it an unfair advantage over other online companies. Regulators also accused the tech giant of unfair restrictions on its Google Play app store that limited the offers customers could receive from app developers.”
Meanwhile, the EU had previously warned Apple to ensure that other electronics producers could more easily sync their devices to Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, which it doesn’t seem to have done. For years, customers have reported difficulty connecting Apple devices to those made by other companies.
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This is terrible news for Google and Apple. A company found violating the DMA can be subject to a fine equal to as much as 10% of its global revenue, although that amount is doubled for those who have previously violated it.
The EU isn’t backing down despite looming threats from the U.S.
This regulatory action from the EU comes at a pivotal time for its members. U.S. President Trump has directly criticized the EU for attempting to hold U.S. companies to account by imposing fines, describing them as a “form of taxation.”
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Now, the EU is risking potential retaliation from the U.S. by proceeding with legal action against two of its most prominent tech companies. But Europe’s leaders seem intent on upholding their policies, even while the possibility of action from Trump continues to loom.
Both companies argued against the EU’s decision, claiming that European businesses will be negatively impacted. “Today’s announcement by the European Commission pushes for more changes to Google Search, Android and Play that will hurt European businesses and consumers, hinder innovation, weaken security, and degrade product quality,” stated Google in a blog post.
EU regulations seem steadfast in their belief that the principles of DMA are fundamentally important for ensuring fair competition in Europe, even if they result in industry-leading U.S. companies being forced to pay fines and make changes to their European operations.
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