Apple lost an appeal on Tuesday against a regulatory assessment that opens the iPhone maker up to stricter controls in Germany, the Federal Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday, following years of debate over the company's market position.

Federal judges backed the German cartel office's 2023 designation of Apple as a "company of paramount cross-market significance for competition".

With that, Apple joins Google parent Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta on Germany's growing list of tech giants subject to possible measures curbing their dominance.

Apple said it faced tough competition in Germany and that it disagreed with the court's decision.

"It neglects the value of a business model that places the privacy and security of users at its centre," a spokesperson for the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

A judge had indicated in January that the court would side with the regulator. For more, read the full Reuters report.

For much greater detail, review the actual press release from the German court here.

Allowing Germany to dictate what Apple can and can't do with it's own platform is going to hurt them financially in the long-term. The Trump administration views tech fines and interference with U.S. Tech Companies as tariffs in disguise. So will  Trump actually do something? More importantly, will Trump's tariff tirades fall on deaf ears in Europe on this topic? Stay tuned.