Trump Launches Section 301 Probe, Threatens Tariffs After EU’s $1 B Google Fine

Section 301 was the same tool Washington used in the 1985–87 semiconductor showdown with Japan and in the 2018 tariff salvos against China; invoking it here signals that tech regulation has become a front-line trade issue. The EU’s Digital Markets Act reflects a broader post-2010 trend of Brussels exporting strict digital rules (from GDPR to DMA), while Washington gravitates toward unilateral tariffs when diplomacy stalls. By threatening duties to overturn an antitrust ruling, the U.S. blurs the boundary between competition policy and trade retaliation—a line the GATT-WTO system has struggled to police since its 1947 inception. If this hardens into precedent, future platform-era disputes (AI, data, cloud) could trigger tariff wars much like steel and agriculture did in the 20th century, shaping the architecture of global digital commerce for decades; yet history also shows that many Section 301 cases are settled quietly, suggesting today’s drama could fade unless both sides escalate beyond rhetoric.