US Threatens Countermeasures on EU After X Fines

The US may need to respond to Europe’s restrictions and fines, the US Trade Representative said Tuesday.

The logo of social network X displayed on a smartphone in Brussels on Sept. 27, 2024. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images

The foreign trade ambassador for the United States threatened to retaliate against the European Union Tuesday following its $140 million fine against billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s X.

The U.S. Trade Representative stated in an X post that if the United States needs to respond to Europe’s restrictions and fines, the law allows the United States to assess fees or restrictions on foreign services and take other actions.

“If the EU and EU Member States insist on continuing to restrict, limit, and deter the competitiveness of U.S. service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures,” the Trade Representative stated.

The U.S. will also take “a similar approach to other countries that pursue an EU-style strategy.”

The Trade Representative, led by Ambassador Jamieson Greer, is an agency that negotiates directly with foreign governments on trade agreements and other issues.

On Dec. 5, the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, stated X breached several transparency obligations under the union’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

The commission’s two-year investigation allegedly found fault with the social media app’s “deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark,’ the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.”

X’s advertising library also failed to meet the DSA’s accessibility and detail standards, omitting key information that made it difficult to track coordinated disinformation, election interference, and illicit activities, the commission stated.

“With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, said in a statement.

Musk responded to the fine, calling it “crazy.”

“The ‘EU’ imposed this crazy fine not just on @X, but also on me personally, which is even more insane! Therefore, it would seem appropriate to apply our response not just to the EU, but also to the individuals who took this action against me,” Musk posted on X.

US Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer speaks at the National Conservative Convention in Washington D.C., on Sept. 3, 2025. (Photo by Dominic Gwinn / Middle East Images via AFP) Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The EU’s massive fine against Musk’s X is the latest challenge against U.S. tech giants.

The EU also fined Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Qualcomm, as well as TikTok.

In September, the commission fined the California-based internet search giant Google $3.5 billion for violating EU antitrust rules.

Andrew Morgan contributed to this report.