Social Platforms Hold Breath Over EU Trade Negotiations

Social media giants are banking on their alignment with President Trump to deliver dividends in the coming weeks, as the White House edges closer to finalizing a new trade pact with Europe. The sticking point? The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and the hefty regulatory obligations it places on U.S. tech companies like Meta, X, and others.
The DSA sets out strict compliance rules for online platforms, and violations have already cost leading firms billions in penalties. American officials, however, argue that many of these measures conflict with the U.S. principle of free speech. Some in Washington see the fines less as regulatory oversight and more as disguised taxation, designed to make U.S. firms pay dearly for access to European markets.
According to a new report from the Financial Times, the White House is pushing harder on this front as part of its negotiations with Brussels. Both sides are working through “non-tariff barriers” as they hammer out the details of the trade deal, with the DSA squarely in focus.
U.S. negotiators have flagged particular concerns with the DSA’s strict provisions around moderating “illegal” content, ranging from hate speech to child abuse material. Earlier this year, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) publicly attacked the DSA, calling it “incompatible with America’s free speech tradition.” President Trump himself has gone further, warning that the EU’s regulatory stance could result in tariffs on European imports.
The U.S. has already begun to flex its muscle. In July, Washington confirmed that EU goods would face a 15% tariff, a reduction from the 30% tariff Trump initially floated. But that lower rate depends on resolving key sticking points, with Europe’s digital service rules ranking among the most contentious.
If no compromise is reached, the cost of U.S.-EU trade could rise sharply, something European officials are keen to prevent. That, in turn, places pressure on Brussels to offer a more palatable arrangement for American tech companies — precisely the outcome Meta, Apple, and others have been lobbying for.
This is also why figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook have been willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with Trump, despite their history of clashes. The potential financial windfall is simply too significant to ignore.
Whether this strategy pays off will become clear soon enough, as the U.S. and EU prepare to unveil their finalized agreement in the near future.
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