President Trump said Thursday that the European Union’s record $5 billion fine on Google was part of the trade bloc’s anti-U.S. policies.
I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018
The trade skirmish will take center stage Wednesday when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker visits the White House.
Mr. Trump has made the EU a top target in his get-tough trade agenda, including threatening to hike tariffs to as high as 25 percent on European cars.
He insists the EU for decades has taken advantage of the U.S. though lopsided trade deals.
EU antitrust regulators hit Google with the $5 billion fine Wednesday, saying its deal with Android phone companies to preinstall Google apps was unfair to competitors.
Google contends Android phone have expanded competition, with users downloading an average 50 apps.
Though the fine sounds huge, it would amount to two weeks of revenue for Google parent Alphabet Inc., which has $102.9 billion in cash reserves.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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