European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said the EU is preparing a slate of retaliatory measures that could include levies on digital advertising revenues from U.S. tech companies like Facebook-parent Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google.
What Happened: The warning comes as transatlantic trade tensions rise, with President Donald Trump imposing steep new tariffs on European goods.
“We are developing retaliatory measures,” von der Leyen told the Financial Times, noting the EU would seek a “completely balanced” agreement with Washington during Trump’s 90-day tariff pause.
If talks fail, she warned, “There’s a wide range of countermeasures … in case the negotiations are not satisfactory.”