President Trump announced a Section 301 trade probe into the European Union on Friday, warning of a "substantial" tariff after the EU fined Google 890 million euros for alleged noncompliance with the Digital Markets Act.
President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration will launch a trade investigation into the European Union, warning the probe will likely produce a "substantial" tariff on the 27-member bloc in response to its fines against major U.S. technology companies.
Trump made the announcement in a lengthy post on Truth Social, accusing the EU of "'ROBBING' American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer." The immediate trigger was a fine totaling 890 million euros — roughly $1 billion — that the European Commission issued Wednesday against Google.
The European Commission said the penalties stem from Google's alleged noncompliance with the bloc's Digital Markets Act, a sweeping law designed to regulate the conduct of large technology platforms. Trump, however, claimed the fine was issued "without explanation" and characterized it as part of a broader pattern of European economic aggression against American firms.
"The European Union is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies!" Trump wrote, also citing prior European fines against Apple, Meta, and Amazon.
Trump said the U.S. will "immediately" begin an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a statute that allows the executive branch to impose tariffs in response to foreign practices found to unfairly burden U.S. commerce.
"The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about," Trump wrote. "The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment."
The Section 301 authority is the same legal mechanism the Trump administration used earlier Friday to impose new duties of between 10% and 12.5% on goods from more than 80 countries, citing alleged forced labor issues in global supply chains. Hours after those tariffs took effect, a lawsuit challenging them was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of two small businesses. The suit argues the administration is improperly using Section 301 to effectively reinstate Trump's 2025 "liberation day" tariffs, which the Supreme Court struck down earlier this year.
The dual tariff actions rattled markets on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell approximately 0.5%, weighed down by significant declines in semiconductor stocks. Micron slid more than 7%, Sandisk dropped more than 10%, and Marvell Technology fell 7%. Intel shed nearly 6% despite reporting strong second-quarter results the prior evening.
Software stocks moved in the opposite direction, with investors rotating away from hardware names. Salesforce climbed more than 4% after the company announced a three-year, $1.6 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which will provide VA employees with agentic AI-based tools aimed at improving operational efficiency. Workday, Intuit, and Adobe also posted gains on the day.
D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria described the Salesforce contract as "significant," given its size and the importance of the Veterans Affairs department, while cautioning that "one deal does not change the fact that Salesforce has been struggling to hold on to growth over the last few years." He added that "being part of a big government deal does not always guarantee meaningful profits."
Despite Friday's gains, Salesforce shares remain down nearly 40% in 2026, pressured by concerns that AI-driven automation will erode its traditional seat-based enterprise software model.
Trump's EU tariff threat arrives at a delicate moment in transatlantic trade relations, with the administration already engaged on multiple tariff fronts simultaneously. Whether the Section 301 probe will ultimately produce formal levies — and how Brussels responds — will be among the more consequential trade developments to watch in the weeks ahead.
Marc Sabatini is a staff writer at TechEchelon covering enterprise software, cybersecurity, and the regulatory beats that shape both. He focuses on the deal flow and policy decisions that move markets.
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