{"id":90420,"date":"2024-09-10T15:30:35","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T23:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=90420"},"modified":"2024-09-10T07:34:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T15:34:46","slug":"european-unions-court-of-justice-upholds-2-7-billion-fine-against-google-trade-war-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/prophecy\/european-unions-court-of-justice-upholds-2-7-billion-fine-against-google-trade-war-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"European Union\u2019s Court of Justice upholds $14.4 billion tax against Apple & $2.7 billion fine against Google–trade war anyone?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in 2019, I posted the following news item by Politico<\/em>:<\/p>\n

European Union officials have drawn up an aggressive 173-page plan to counter both President Donald Trump\u2019s trade moves and American tech giants including Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook.<\/p>\n

According to a document obtained by POLITICO, European Commission officials are pushing their president-elect, Ursula von der Leyen<\/a>, to set up a European Future Fund that would invest more than $100 billion in equity stakes in high-potential European companies.<\/p>\n

The goal: get Europe competing head-on with the American and Chinese tech giants it has lagged behind for decades.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re also advocating for Europe to show more grit in Trump\u2019s trade war, saying the EU should slap tariffs unilaterally on the United States. https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2019\/08\/22\/europe-plan-trump-tech-companies-1472326<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, the European Union\u2019s Court of Justice took a step that the US would not like:<\/p>\n

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Europe\u2019s top court just delivered multi-billion-dollar blows to Apple and Google<\/h2>\n

September 10, 2024<\/p>\n

Apple has lost its fight to dodge a \u20ac13 billion ($14.4 billion) tax bill following a\u00a0ruling<\/a>\u00a0by Europe\u2019s top court Tuesday, which dealt a blow to the world\u2019s most valuable company just a day after the iPhone maker unveiled a host of\u00a0product upgrades<\/a>\u00a0to boost sales.<\/p>\n

The European Court of Justice also upheld a \u20ac2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) antitrust fine against Google, in a\u00a0separate decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two ECJ rulings are final, which means the companies cannot appeal them. https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/09\/10\/tech\/europe-ruling-apple-tax-google-fine\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Google loses final EU court appeal against $2.7 billion fine in antitrust shopping case<\/h2>\n

September 10, 2024<\/p>\n

Google lost its final legal challenge on Tuesday against a European Union penalty for giving its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage over rivals in search results, ending a long-running antitrust case that came with a whopping fine.<\/p>\n

The European Union\u2019s Court of Justice upheld a lower court\u2019s decision, rejecting the company\u2019s appeal against the $2.7 billion penalty from the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc\u2019s top antitrust enforcer.<\/p>\n

“By today\u2019s judgment, the Court of Justice dismisses the appeal and thus upholds the judgment of the General Court,” the court said in a press release summarizing its decision.<\/p>\n

The commission’s punished the Silicon Valley giant in 2017 for unfairly directing visitors to its own Google Shopping service to the detriment of competitors. It was one of three multibillion-dollar fines that the commission imposed on Google in the previous decade as Brussels started ramping up its crackdown on the tech industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed with the decision of the Court, which relates to a very specific set of facts,\u201d Google said in a brief statement.<\/p>\n

The company said it made changes in 2017 to comply with the commission\u2019s decision requiring it to treat competitors equally. It started holding auctions for shopping search listings that it would bid for alongside other comparison shopping services.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur approach has worked successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services,\u201d Google said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the company appealed the decision to the courts. But the EU General Court, the tribunal’s lower section, rejected its challenge in 2021 and the Court of Justice\u2019s adviser later recommended rejecting the appeal.<\/p>\n

European consumer group BEUC hailed the court’s decision, saying it shows how the bloc’s competition law \u201cremains highly relevant” in digital markets.<\/p>\n

“Google harmed millions of European consumers by ensuring that rival comparison shopping services were virtually invisible,” director general Agust\u00edn Reyna said. \u201cGoogle\u2019s illegal practices prevented consumers from accessing potentially cheaper prices and useful product information from rival comparison shopping services on all sorts of products, from clothes to washing machines.\u201d https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/google-loses-final-eu-court-appeal-against-2-7-billion-fine-in-antitrust-shopping-case-\/7778300.html<\/a><\/p>\n

September 10, 2024<\/p>\n

“The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the US. We are disappointed with today’s decision as previously the general court reviewed the facts and categorically annulled this case,” Apple wrote in a statement to The Guadrian.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg Intelligence’s Anurag Rana and Andrew Girard weighed in on\u00a0Apple’s defeat:<\/p>\n

“The EU top court’s reinstatement of a \u20ac13 billion tax penalty against Apple doesn’t pose significant operational threat. Apple put the sum in escrow after the 2016 ruling, and disclosed nearly $62 billion in cash and marketable securities in 3Q. Ireland has tightened the tax program that underpinned the EU’s decision, leaving little risk of further action. Pending EU inquiries into the App Store, brought under a new legal regime, pose a more tangible challenge as they are likely to force Apple to open its walled ecosystem.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apple shares in premarket trading in New York were down a little over 1%.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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“Today is a big win for European citizens and for tax justice.<\/p>\n

The Court of Justice confirms that Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland now has to recover, and the Commission’s decision in the Google Shopping antitrust case.” https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/technology\/big-win-eus-vestager-celebrates-apple-loses-eu13bn-ireland-tax-bill-case<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Executive Vice President @vestager<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/1Fko0F66S2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 European Commission (@EU_Commission) September 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n