Microsoft's President Brad Smith has stated the U.S. tech giant's commitment to respecting European laws, even when disagreements arise. This declaration comes amidst escalating trade tensions between the United States and the European Union, fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. 🇺🇸🇪🇺

"Like every citizen and company, we don’t always agree with every policy of every government. But even when we’ve lost cases in European courts, Microsoft has long respected and complied with European laws," Smith emphasized in a blog post on Wednesday. 📝

Smith's remarks are part of Microsoft's current outreach efforts in Europe, coinciding with growing concerns that the EU might leverage its regulatory scrutiny of American tech giants as a countermeasure to U.S. trade restrictions. ⚖️

The EU has been actively working to regulate major U.S. tech firms on competition grounds for years. The Digital Markets Act (DMA), which became enforceable last year, targets the market dominance of large "gatekeeper" companies, including Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. 🇪🇺🔒

Just last week, the European Commission fined Apple 500 million euros ($568.5 million) and Meta 200 million euros ($227.4 million) for breaches of the DMA. 💰

"We understand that European laws apply to our business practices in Europe, just as local laws apply to local practices in the United States, and similar laws apply elsewhere in the world. This includes European competition law and the Digital Markets Act, among others," Smith affirmed. He further stated Microsoft's commitment to both building digital infrastructure for Europe and respecting the legal frameworks governing their products and services across the continent. 🌐

Trump has previously cited the EU's regulatory actions against U.S. tech companies as a justification for imposing tariffs on the bloc. In February, he threatened the EU with duties to address what he termed "overseas extortion" of American tech firms through digital taxes and fines. 😠

Key Data: 📊

Entity	Fine (Euros)	Fine (USD)	Reason
Apple	500 million	$568.5 million	DMA breaches
Meta	200 million	$227.4 million	DMA breaches

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