In a press statement, former President Donald Trump just made it known that the chief executive officer of Apple expressed concern over huge fines levied against the tech giant by the European Union. Discussing this statement with Apple’s CEO, he said that were he to be re-elected, he would put an end to these monetary charges on American firms.
“He [Cook] called me three hours ago,” Trump said. The European Union fined us $15 billion, and then another $2 billion on top of that.” Another pretty interesting thing was when Cook mentioned that Europe uses these fines to run their enterprise-meaning thereby, they depend on such measures. Trump replied to Cook, recognizing the issue at hand but reminded him that first, he would need to win the upcoming election. “I won’t let them take advantage of our companies. That won’t happen,” Trump said, an assurance.
EU Fines on Apple Over Alleged Antitrust Violations
In March, the EU fined Apple an astonishing $2 billion. The fine was issued because it was believed that Apple had leveraged its powerful market to thwart music streaming services. These services believed Apple impeded them from offering subscription rates that were more affordable than what was available through the App Store. The EU deemed this as anti-competitive and resulted in the million-dollar fine.
Ongoing Tax Disputes and Further Penalties
Besides the $2 billion fine, it saw a $14.4 billion tax settlement against Apple through. Of course, the tax dispute was over unpaid taxes that the EU claimed Apple owed over several years. These big fines add to growing tension between the EU and American tech companies. Yet even with this news, Apple has remained silent. Reached for comment by The Verge, Apple declined to respond.
With the presidential election in the United States set for November 5, such a position by Trump-to protect American companies from EU fines-might just find a place in his election campaigns. However, the election results, as also the legal battles of Apple are yet to be decided.
