Payback Time: Trump and EU’s “Exorbitant” Fines vs US Tech Companies

Abstract

The election of Donald Trump for a second term of the US Presidency is of considerable concern to the European Union (EU), NATO, and states worldwide in general owing to numerous negative remarks concerning US relations thereto during his first term in office. Member states of the EU, for the past decade, have imposed significant fines upon US tech giants for alleged violations of its regulations mainly governing antitrust and invasion of privacy violations. The reactions of the prior US presidents to EU regulations and enforcement thereof, namely by Donald Trump and Joseph Biden, differ considerably with the latter somewhat supportive of governmental imposition of judicial antitrust mandates while the former is more supportive of laissez faire economic viewpoint and opposition to major fines except for extreme violations of law. The viewpoints are reflective of the economic theories emanating from the “Harvard School” which advocated strict enforcement of antitrust violations to maintain a highly competitive atmosphere in the marketplace versus the Chicago School (University of Chicago) that advocated a hands-off approach to industry stating there is little or no need for antitrust rules and enforcement due to the inevitable creation of comparable or substitute products and services by other firms globally.