EU Postpones Announcement of Sanctions Against Apple and Meta Ahead of U.S. Tariff Talks

WSJ: DMA Investigation Announcement Postponed
EU Delays Sanctions Against Apple and Meta Amid U.S. Tariff Talks

The European Union (EU) has reportedly postponed the announcement of sanctions against Apple and Meta for violations of digital regulations, just before the start of tariff negotiations with the United States.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing multiple sources on April 18 (local time), reported that the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, had planned to officially announce the results of its Digital Markets Act (DMA) investigation into Apple and Meta on April 15. However, the announcement was postponed after a sudden scheduling of tariff negotiations with the United States just one day before the planned announcement date.

According to sources, some companies had received advance notice of the announcement schedule. The investigation's conclusions included corrective orders for violations of the DMA, and both companies faced the possibility of being fined.

On April 14, Maros Sefcovic, the EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, visited Washington, D.C., and met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamison Greer. The meeting marked the first official negotiation following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a 90-day suspension of reciprocal tariffs by countries including the EU, to which the EU responded by agreeing to suspend its retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. As full-scale negotiations began, it is believed that the DMA results announcement was postponed at the last minute to avoid provoking the United States.

The DMA is a law that designates seven major platform operators as "gatekeepers" and imposes special regulations to prevent abuse of market dominance by large platform businesses. Of the seven designated gatekeepers, five are American companies. Under the regulations, fines of up to 10% of global revenue can be imposed for violations, and up to 20% for repeated violations.

Since the full implementation of the DMA in March 2024, the Commission has launched investigations into Apple, Alphabet, and Meta, citing concerns that their internal rules applied to external app developers?such as bans on steering users to alternative payment methods?may violate the DMA. The Commission had planned to complete its investigations within 12 months, but so far, only preliminary findings on Alphabet's Google have been released.

While the Commission is still expected to conclude that Apple and Meta have violated the DMA, it remains unclear how much longer the final results will be delayed. The WSJ interpreted that, depending on the severity of the corrective orders issued by the Commission, the impact on Apple and Meta's business practices could be far greater than the fines themselves.