US Lawmakers Demand Clarity from EU on Tech Rules

US House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan has demanded clarification from EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera on the implementation of the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Reuters reports. Jordan's request follows a memorandum issued by US President Donald Trump expressing concern over the DMA and Digital Services Act, stating that these regulations dictate how American companies interact with consumers in the European Union.

The DMA, designed to ensure a level playing field and empower consumers, outlines specific requirements for major tech companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking.com, ByteDance, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and others.

In his letter to Ribera, Jordan expressed concern that the DMA may unfairly target American companies, subjecting them to burdensome regulations while giving European companies an advantage.

"We write to express our concerns that the DMA may target American companies," Jordan wrote in his letter, co-signed by Scott Fitzgerald, chairman of the subcommittee on the administrative state, regulatory reform, and antitrust.

The letter specifically criticized the potential for fines of up to 10% of a company's global annual revenue for violating the DMA.

"These severe fines appear to have two goals: to compel businesses to follow European standards worldwide, and as a European tax on American companies," Jordan and Fitzgerald stated.

They also raised concerns about certain provisions in the DMA that they believe could benefit China.

"These, along with other provisions of the DMA, stifle innovation, disincentivize research and development, and hand vast amounts of highly valuable proprietary data to companies and adversarial nations," the letter added.

The two lawmakers have requested a briefing from Ribera by March 10.

The European Commission, where Ribera holds a senior leadership position, has previously denied targeting American companies. In a recent interview with Reuters, Ribera emphasized that the EU executive should not be pressured into altering laws that have already been approved by lawmakers.