1. 🇺🇸 TRUMP STANDS UP TO BRUSSELS’ BIG TECH SHAKEDOWN

Over just the past two years, the European Commission handed down more than $7 billion in fines to American tech companies under its Digital Markets Act. Over two decades, the total hits $25 billion extracted from American innovators.

Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jacob Helberg recently put the EU on blast, saying, “The biggest single source of ​friction in the U.S.-EU relationship from an economic standpoint is the recurrent ​fines, very onerous punitive fines instituted on U.S. companies.”

The Commission, after years of attempting to stonewall American concerns, is now returning to the negotiating table following tariff threats and sustained pressure from the Trump administration.

President Trump has been fighting for American companies since he took office last year. If the EU wants to have a better relationship with the United States, the Trump Administration has made it clear: No more ridiculous regulations.

2. 🇪🇸 SPAIN SELLS OUT EUROPE TO BEIJING

In another attempt by EU nations to kneecap European business, Spain is hearing out Beijing’s demands to further cripple its own economy.

Bloomberg reports China is directly pressuring Spain to kill the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act, the “Made in Europe” proposal that would require EU nations to prioritize domestic companies in public procurement and rebuild European manufacturing to 20% of GDP by 2035.

During PM Pedro Sánchez’s Beijing trip, Chinese officials “complained that Europe was becoming too protectionist,” per Bloomberg, and lobbied Spain to sink the proposal.

The revitalization of Europe depends on leaders pushing back against foreign influence and investing in their manufacturing at home.

According to the EU Observer, Spain is running a €42.3 billion trade deficit with China, 74% of its total trade deficit, while Chinese investment in Spain surged from €149 million to €643 million in a single year. Sánchez signed 19 deals with Beijing during the trip.

The Industrial Accelerator Act is one of the few serious proposals to stop China from hollowing out European industry. And Spain may be trying to kill it on Beijing’s behalf.

❌ EUROPE VULNERABLE TO SCAMS, THANKS TO DIGITAL LAWS

According to a recent article, the European Commission’s enforcement of their digital laws is actually making Europeans less safe online.

The article highlights one of several fundamental contradictions in how Brussels is applying the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. Google developed its Site Reputation Abuse Policy to combat “parasite SEO,” a technique where bad actors hijack the credibility of trusted websites to push malware and scam content to the top of search results. Rather than applaud these protections, the Commission is treating them as a potential DMA violation.

This creates a lose-lose situation for U.S. companies and their consumers. If they maintain their security filters and continue protecting EU-users from known scams, platforms risk triggering massive DMA fines. Conversely, If they do away with their scam safeguards, platforms open themselves up to DSA-based penalties for failing to shield EU users from spam, malware, and deceptive content which the DSA is intended to prevent.

Even more problematic is that Brussels’ approach runs directly counter to what European consumers want. 81% of Europeans oppose any regulation that would force search engines to elevate scammer’s content, while 78% want platforms to continue filtering spam even if it affects traffic to certain sites.

The EU is also opening up Europeans to fraud and malicious actors through their mandating of “sideloading,” which allows the installation of apps on devices from third parties even if they don’t meet gatekeepers’ privacy and security standards. While American platforms have long supported third-party apps and marketplaces, the issue centers around DMA obligations, which override safeguards intended to oversee these digital marketplaces. With malware incidents on smartphones recently tripling, Brussels would be better off prioritizing the security of its own users, instead of forcing gatekeepers to dismantle their security safeguards to facilitate openness.

With the DMA review coming in May, the European Commission should seize the opportunity to address these contradictions before scammers inflict meaningful financial damage on its populace, and take a more balanced approach to DMA and DSA enforcement that doesn’t put American companies in an unwinnable position.