President Trump’s Negotiators Must Continue to Challenge EU on Protectionist Digital-Trade Practices

By SBE Council at 29 June, 2025, 5:37 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C. – The following statement can be attributed to Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) president & CEO Karen Kerrigan regarding ongoing negotiations with the European Union (EU), their digital regulation of U.S. companies, and the need for the Trump Administration and U.S. trade negotiators to hold strong and protect American companies from discriminatory trade practices that undermine the competitiveness and growth of U.S.-based companies:

“The EU has been targeting leading American companies with rules, fines, and other punitive actions that undermine their ability to do business in the EU and deliver digital tools to their citizens and small businesses. These practices harm the competitiveness, growth and innovative capacity of U.S. companies, and by extension the entire U.S. economy and our global leadership.”

“The EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, for example, are direct regulatory attacks on U.S. companies – protectionist barriers that attempt to bolster the EU’s technology sector by punishing U.S. technology leaders. A better path for the EU is to reform and fix their own punitive tax and regulatory policies to bolster innovation, investment and the tech-startup ecosystem, rather than undermining U.S. technology companies and using them as a piggy bank.”

“We urge the Trump Administration to maintain digital trade issues in their negotiations and to hold firm on upholding U.S. interests. Digital trade issues are the critical issues of the day for U.S. businesses of all sizes, for the future of U.S. innovation and leadership, and how other nations – including the EU in the future – will perpetually aim to undermine U.S. businesses abroad if we allow the them to define ‘protectionism’  and erect barriers to markets through digital protectionism. Addressing these onerous barriers will not only help U.S.-based businesses, but the entrepreneurs and small business owners across the EU who will benefit from pro-growth, pro-investment policies, and affordable digital tools that allow them to succeed and grow.”

Contact:  Karen Kerrigan, kkerrigan@sbecouncil.org

SBE Council is a nonpartisan advocacy, research and education organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For more than 30 years, SBE Council has worked on and advanced a range of private sector and public policy initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem for strong startup activity and small business growth. Visit www.sbecouncil.org for additional information. Twitter: @SBECouncil

###