Teresa Ribera attacks the Trump Administration. The Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition states that the United States is "blackmailing" the EU by threatening to increase steel tariffs if the EU does not review and soften its digital laws.
"Just because this is their intention does not mean we accept that kind of blackmail," stated the former Spanish Vice President in statements to Politico. "We respect the rules, whatever they may be, that they have for their market: digital market, healthcare sector, steel, whatever it may be... cars, standards. It's their problem. It's their regulation and their sovereignty. The same applies here," Ribera adds.
The strong words of the Commission's high-ranking official come after, this same week, the US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, participated in a lunch in Brussels with the 27 ministers of the trade sector. "Our suggestion is that the European Union and its Trade Ministers seriously consider trying to analyze their digital rules, trying to find a balance, not discard them, but find the balanced approach that works with us," stated the representative of the Trump Administration. "If they achieve that balanced approach, which I believe they can, then we, along with them, will address the issues of steel and aluminum," he added.
The warning was indeed perceived as blackmail by many in Brussels, although no one dared to point it out, at least not with the strength that Ribera has done nor from such a relevant position as the one she holds. Because steel and aluminum tariffs were already negotiated in the summer, when many considered that the EU had to capitulate and accept an agreement that was not beneficial in exchange for avoiding a trade war. In fact, a 50% tariff was applied to these items.
But the United States now threatens to increase them even more if the EU does not soften the mentioned digital rules, which regulate the activity of major US technology companies. It is not a new request, in fact, it is a recurring issue as the Trump Administration believes that both the DMA and the DSA harm Microsoft, Google, or X.
This is not the first time that Ribera has used the term "blackmail" in reference to the United States and in the context of trade negotiations. She did so in May, when at an event with EFE she stated, "Such blackmail cannot be allowed" after Trump threatened to impose a general 50% tariff on the EU. Following that statement, the Commission negotiated with the US and agreed on a general tariff of 15% with exceptions such as the aforementioned steel and aluminum, which the United States now threatens to revise upwards.