NEW YORK, April 18. /TASS/. The European Union has decided not to fine American tech giants Apple and Meta (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) for violating antitrust laws, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
According to the newspaper, the European Commission initially planned to announce the fines on Tuesday, but after a meeting between the European Commissioner for Trade Policy and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic and representatives of the US administration on Monday, the EU officials decided to postpone the fines so as not to jeopardize the ongoing trade talks between the EU and the US.
However, the European Commission does not plan to cancel the fines for the tech giants. It is not yet clear how long the postponement will last.
In April, the Euractiv portal reported that the EU could soon fine Apple and Meta, as the 12-month period for conducting an investigation into the violation of the Community's laws on digital markets and digital services by the US technology companies expires.
Brussels intends to impose a fine of more than $1 billion on Meta.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the United States would be able to conclude a trade deal with EU countries before the expiration of the 90-day period for which he ordered to postpone the increase in tariffs on a number of countries.
On April 2, Trump announced the introduction of customs duties on products from 185 countries and territories. Universal tariffs of 10% came into force on April 5, individual tariffs on April 9. Since April 3, the US administration has imposed customs duties of 25% on all imported cars.
On April 9, Trump announced he was suspending the additional import duties imposed on some countries and territories for 90 days. The White House explained that the pause is related to trade negotiations, during which a "universal tariff of 10%" will be in effect.
Trumps also told reporters that United States does not rule out the possibility of extending its 90-day pause in respect of import duties.