Lawmakers Say EU Regulations Unfairly Target US Tech Companies

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers reportedly wrote a letter to President Joe Biden expressing concerns that the European Union’s digital regulations unfairly target American technology companies.

The lawmakers argued that the regulations, particularly the Digital Markets Act (DMA), designate five leading U.S. tech companies as “gatekeepers” while excluding many Chinese and EU firms, Reuters reported Monday (Dec. 18).

The letter emphasized the potential damage these regulations could cause to the U.S. economy, global digital leadership and consumer security, according to the report.

The DMA, which is set to take effect in March 2024, requires the U.S. tech companies Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, along with TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance, to ensure their messaging apps are compatible with competitors and allow users to choose pre-installed apps on their devices, the report said.

However, the lawmakers argued that this designation unfairly singles out American companies while neglecting to scrutinize Chinese companies like Alibaba, Huawei and Tencent, as well as European companies, per the report.

The lawmakers expressed concerns that these regulations could hinder the growth and innovation of American tech companies, according to the report. The letter emphasized the importance of maintaining U.S. leadership in the tech sector for the economy and American workers.

The lawmakers called on Biden to secure commitments from EU lawmakers to enforce the DMA fairly and not use it as a tool to target U.S. companies, the report said.

The U.S. government has previously cautioned the EU against over-regulating American technology companies, per the report. During the drafting of the DMA, the White House National Security Council warned that solely targeting American companies would hinder collaboration between the U.S. and the EU.

Meanwhile, Google and Meta joined other tech companies in the Coalition for Open Digital Ecosystems (CODE), which was formed in response to new regulations such as the DMA.

CODE wants to champion more open platforms and systems to fuel innovation and growth in the EU.