By Edith Hancock

The chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has asked the European Union's competition enforcer how she plans to enforce the bloc's rules regarding tech giants, saying they appear to unfairly target U.S. companies.

In a letter to Teresa Ribera, Jim Jordan said the Digital Markets Act--which the EU uses to investigate the practices of companies like Apple, Meta and Google--subjects its targets to "burdensome" regulatory obligations and appears to be limited to non-European firms.

The letter, seen by Dow Jones Newswires, was sent on Sunday.

The DMA gives the EU power to class tech companies as so-called gatekeepers and sets out a list of do's and dont's that include a ban on self-preferencing and strict rules around processing customer data. Google, for example, isn't allowed to favor its own products and services--such as Google Shopping and Hotels--over rivals' offerings through its widely-used search-engine results.

Companies that break the law face fines of up to 10% of their annual worldwide turnover, with fines reaching 20% for repeat offences.

"These severe fines appear to have two goals: to compel business to follow European standards worldwide, and as a European tax on American companies," the letter, signed by Jordan and co-signed by Republican Congressman Scott Fitzgerald, said.

It also requested a briefing on Ribera's approach to enforcement, existing probes into U.S. companies and any EU "plans to subsidize and build national champions."

"European regulations like the DMA will hurt consumers and stifle innovation," it said, noting that six out of seven companies under the scope of the rules--Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking, Meta and Microsoft--are U.S. based or subsidiaries of U.S. companies. Booking.com is based in the Netherlands, while parent Booking Holdings is headquartered in Connecticut.

The letter is the latest escalation in transatlantic tensions this year as EU officials try to enforce laws governing the tech sector that came into force while former President Joe Biden was in office. Reuters previously reported the letter.

Ribera--who replaced Margrethe Vestager as the bloc's antitrust enforcer last December--has so far denied that U.S. President Trump's election will result in any reassessment of how she might enforce the rules against Big Tech.

She told Dow Jones Newswires last month that EU regulators "don't take decisions because of who has been democratically elected in other countries."

Write to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2025 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT)

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