A Washington-based advocacy group has launched a six-figure campaign urging President Donald Trump to pursue tariffs against Europe and to review federal contracts held by European companies, in response to a string of fines European regulators have levied against American technology firms.
Public Policy Solutions launched the campaign, called “Bad Allies,” on Monday, October 12. The television and digital push calls for a Section 301 investigation into European Union regulations and penalties against US tech companies. It also asks federal agencies to examine existing contracts with European businesses and consider applying similar regulatory scrutiny to them that American firms have faced in Europe.
The group has not named specific contracts or companies it wants reviewed, but is calling on Washington to begin looking.
John Czwartacki, co-founder of Public Policy Solutions, said in a statement: “The European Union has attacked American innovation for too long; it’s time we fought back. From overreaching regulations and massive fines to baseless investigations, the EU is trying to cripple America’s most innovative companies. Yet, Europe expects its companies to enjoy unfettered access to the U.S. market. U.S. officials should support President Trump’s bold step to initiate a Section 301 Investigation into Europe’s unfair practices and re-evaluate federal contracts with European companies. Failure to stand up for American companies will only strengthen our mutual enemies, weaken our alliance, and harm innovation in America and Europe alike.”
Background: Trump’s July warning
The campaign follows remarks Trump made on July 24, when he posted a list of American companies and the sums he said Europe had taken from them: $15 billion from Apple, $3 billion from Meta, $2.5 billion from Amazon, and more than $18 billion from Google. He accused European officials of discriminating against American businesses, calling them a “PIGGYBANK,” and threatened a Section 301 investigation followed by tariffs unless the penalties were reversed.
That warning came shortly after Google was fined a combined €890 million under the EU’s Digital Markets Act — split into a €460 million penalty over Google favouring its own services in search results, and a €430 million penalty over restrictions on app developers directing customers to purchases outside Google Play.
Other recent EU penalties against American firms include a €500 million fine against Apple in April 2025 over App Store purchase restrictions, and a €200 million fine against Meta over its advertising-consent model. The European Commission has said the Digital Markets Act is intended to create a level playing field for competition in digital markets.
How EU enforcement compares
Public Policy Solutions has pointed to EU enforcement actions against non-American companies as evidence that Brussels applies scrutiny broadly, including to firms with ties to China. In 2023, Ireland’s data protection regulator fined Meta €1.2 billion for transferring European user data to the United States. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, was fined €345 million in September 2023 over violations involving children’s data, and received a further €530 million penalty in 2025 over data transfers to China.
The group raised concerns about the disparity between US and non-US firms’ treatment in a June 2025 report, alongside criticism of European digital taxes and regulations it says are designed around the world’s largest technology companies.
A further concern raised by the campaign is a proposed change to an EU revenue measure, described in an October 7 report, that would apply to multinational companies with more than €100 million in annual European revenue. The threshold would include a number of American firms, though the proposed tax would also apply to companies outside the technology sector.
Looking beyond Europe
In December, Public Policy Solutions published a report examining the spread of European-style digital regulation to Brazil, Colombia, and Chile, with particular focus on Brazil’s proposed technology restrictions and its relationships with Chinese telecommunications companies.
Brazil has already faced US trade action on related grounds. The US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, opened a Section 301 investigation in July 2025 into Brazilian practices involving digital commerce and intellectual property, and Washington announced responsive trade measures the following year.
No such investigation has yet been opened against the European Union, which is what Public Policy Solutions’ new campaign is calling for.
