U.S. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan on Sunday demanded EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera clarify how she enforces the European Union's rules reining in Big Tech, saying they appear to target U.S. companies.

The request came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum warning that his administration would scrutinize the EU's Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act "that dictate how American companies interact with consumers in the European Union."

The Digital Markets Act sets out a list of dos and don'ts for Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Booking.com, opens new tab, ByteDance, Meta Platforms and  Microsoft aimed at securing a level playing field and giving consumers more choices.

Jim Jordan wrote in a letter sent to Ribera on Sunday that stated: "We write to express our concerns that the DMA may target American companies. The rules subject companies to burdensome regulations and give European companies an advantage. 

Scott Fitzgerald, chairman of the subcommittee on the administrative state, regulatory reform and antitrust, was a co-signatory to the letter. The letter criticized fines up to 10% of global annual revenues for DMA violations.

"These severe fines appear to have two goals: to compel businesses to follow European standards worldwide, and as a European tax on American companies," Jordan and Fitzgerald said.

They also took a swipe at the DMA requirements, saying some of them could benefit China.

"These, along with other provisions of the DMA, stifle innovation, disincentivize research and development, and hand vast amounts of highly valuable proprietary data to companies and adversarial nations," the letter said.

The two urged Ribera to brief the judiciary committee by March 10. Reuters

EU Regulations Slammed by Big Tech

Leading U.S. tech companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Meta, have expressed sweeping concerns regarding the DMA’s approach.

Big Tech has argued that the regulations work against innovation, impose unfair restrictions, and potentially compromise user privacy.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s new policy chief, said: “When companies are treated differently in a way that is discriminatory against them, then that should be highlighted to that company’s home government. “So I think we will do that with President Trump.”

The damning comments echoed similar statements made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the beginning of the year.

During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the tech boss claimed EU regulatory fines were “almost like a tariff” on U.S. companies like his.

“If some other country was screwing with another industry that we cared about, the U.S. government would probably find some way to put pressure on them, but I think what happened here is actually the complete opposite,” Zuckerberg said.

“The U.S. government led the kind of attack against the companies, which then just made it so the EU is basically in all these other places, just free to just go to town on all the American companies and do whatever you want,” he added.

EU Risks Falling Behind U.S.

Since Trump’s promise to prioritize innovation in the tech industry, leading tech companies have warned the EU that its stringent regulations risk putting its tech companies behind overseas competition.

In November, Palantir Technologies CEO Alexander Karp told shareholders that the company’s partners in Europe were “being left behind” while “America once again forges ahead.”

“Europe must adapt to the opportunities and challenges of AI, or risk ruin,” he wrote in a letter to shareholders.

Karp claimed that private and state institutions across the EU stand “on the sidelines” while “U.S. companies disrupt and reshape global industries.” For more, read the full report by CCN (a media outlet dedicated to business, finance, technology and cryptocurrencies).