President Trump’s trip to Asia shows Washington is serious about pushing back on Europe’s digital rules and securing deals that protect American innovation.
The Trump administration completed its Asia tour back in October, delivering some strong wins for American consumers and companies alike. In particular, the administration secured new agreements aimed at curbing Brussels’ export of costly, restrictive digital regulations around the world.
The European Union’s (EU) regulations affect everything from the price of streaming services to how fast new artificial intelligence (AI) tools reach consumers in the marketplace. The Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act (DSA), and EU AI Act are more than simple competition regulations; they are a template for global governance and leverage. Europe knows its rules fall most heavily on American firms.
How Trump’s Asia Tour Challenged Europe’s Digital Rule-Setting
The message after President Donald Trump’s Asia tour couldn’t be clearer: America has had enough of the Brussels effect, and we’ll leverage our diplomatic resources to put a stop to it. This is an overdue strategy from Washington, and it should aggressively pursue options to build upon the wins it secured in Asia to elsewhere around the world.
The administration announced new trade deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, both of which reject discriminatory digital services taxes like those the EU has adopted as a way to single out American tech firms. As part of a meeting with South Korea, President Lee Jae-myung reasserted Korea’s commitment to not needlessly penalizing US tech companies with discriminatory digital taxes.
Malaysia went even further, guaranteeing the United States more access to rare earth minerals, a core input for US manufacturing of its advanced technologies. During a time when China is leveraging global supply chains as geopolitical leverage, rather than being distracted by that, the administration found a lever to pull to relieve some pressure.
EU Digital Rules Cost US Companies More
Trump and Vice President JD Vance are trying to regain their own leverage over Brussels—and succeeding.
The pushback against the Brussels effect is well deserved. According to one study, US companies shed approximately $98 billion annually due to the costs associated with EU rules. Those losses are felt across industries ranging from advertising to cloud services, and they delay rollouts of the cutting-edge AI products.
Enforcement isn’t even performed fairly across the board. A similar study found that Chinese companies hit with the same fines pay one-tenth as much in total penalties. The EU is weaponizing fines as its own form of tariff and relying on American norms that result in payments being made. Brussels is under no illusions that China will pay its tolls.
According to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), in 2024, the fines levied against American tech companies amounted to 20 percent of the EU’s tariff revenues. It goes without saying that allies don’t often treat one another this way, which is why Vance called out the EU at the Munich Security Conference over their abandonment of free speech principles.
Vance shared his worry of a “threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.” This summer, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a cable urging diplomats to work to repeal or amend the DSA and other laws that restrict expression online.
Why Exporting EU Rules Would Hurt America
If EU rules are successfully exported around the world, US firms would be repeatedly taken advantage of and treated as a piggy bank that can be raided whenever it’s convenient. Not only will that world be one where silence and censorship are the standard, but also where Americans are worse off due to slower economic growth.
It would be harder for our most innovative companies to develop and deploy new tech quickly, and the lane would be left wide open for China, our chief rival, to win the AI race and steer the rest of the world in its direction.
A Strategy for US Digital Leadership
The United States can and should do more.
The Trump administration must build upon its successes in Malaysia and Cambodia by offering like-minded countries, outside our immediate sphere of influence, a viable alternative to the digitized European imperialism of Brussels. Furthermore, the administration should work with Congress to advance a single federal standard for AI governance and privacy legislation.
By adopting a singular federal standard, the United States can offer other countries a different governance model to follow while adopting US technologies.
China’s advances in AI will always be part of the conversation, but it’s important not to lose sight of an equally serious threat to American leadership coming from its historical friends in Europe, the red tape of Brussels. Trump showed the world during his Asia trip that the United States is serious about this—all we need to do is keep a heavy foot on the gas pedal.
About the Author: James Czerniawski
James Czerniawski is the head of Emerging Technology Policy at the Consumer Choice Center. His work has been featured in the New York Post, Newsmax, Newsweek, and more. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCz19.
Image: witsarut sakorn/shutterstock
