EU antitrust chief slams U.S. "blackmail" during trade talks

BRUSSELS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A top European Commission official has accused the United States of attempting to blackmail the European Union (EU) into concessions on tech rules.

On Monday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in Brussels that his country could modify its approach on steel and aluminum tariffs in exchange for the EU's reconsidering its digital rules.

However, Teresa Ribera, top antitrust regulator for the European Commission, said Wednesday in an interview with Politico that this constituted blackmail. "The European digital rulebook is not up for negotiation," she underlined.

The rules are a matter of sovereignty and should not be part of a trade negotiation, she added.

"We respect the rules, whatever rules they've got for their market: digital market, health sector, steel, whatever ... cars, standards," she said, referring to the United States. "It is their problem. It is their regulation and their sovereignty. So it is the case here."

The United States views the Digital Markets Act (DMA), one of the EU's flagship tech regulations, as discriminatory because the large technology platforms it regulates, like Microsoft, Google or Amazon, are almost all American. It also takes exception to the Digital Services Act, which seeks to curb illegal online speech. Washington regards these regulations as restricting social networks, including the platform X, formerly Twitter.