Brendan Carr, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, said in Barcelona, Spain, on the 3rd that EU technology regulations are "excessive" and "incompatible" with U.S. values, and he must "defend the interests of U.S. technology companies."
The 2025 Mobile World Congress kicked off in Barcelona on the 3rd. Carr said in his speech that day that he was "concerned about the approach taken by Europe, especially the Digital Services Act," and believed that the possible review of the law was "incompatible with the liberal tradition of the United States."
Carr said that if Europe intends to implement "protectionist regulations and differential treatment of American technology companies, the Trump administration has made it clear that we will stand up to defend the interests of American companies." He also claimed to establish a "fair and just competitive environment."
The Digital Services Act aims to combat illegal and harmful content online, and the EU regards it as a landmark regulation. European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier responded to the US statement that day, saying "the accusations against the Digital Services Act are completely unfounded."
In recent years, many European countries have actively promoted the imposition of digital service taxes on the business activities of large technology companies such as Google, Amazon, and Apple in their countries. These tax measures have been strongly opposed by the United States. On February 21, US President Trump signed a memorandum instructing the Office of the United States Trade Representative to restart investigations related to the digital services tax. The move signals the U.S.’s intention to seek retaliatory tariffs on the digital services tax.