The U.S. Trade Representative has expressed concerns regarding ongoing legal actions, taxes, fines, and directives from the European Union (EU) and certain EU member states that are perceived as discriminatory against U.S. service providers. These companies, which offer a wide range of free services to EU citizens and enterprise solutions to EU businesses, have contributed significantly to the European economy, supporting millions of jobs and over $100 billion in direct investment.
The U.S. administration has raised these issues with the EU for several years but reports a lack of meaningful engagement or acknowledgment from EU officials. In contrast to the challenges faced by U.S. providers, EU service companies have operated in the U.S. market for decades with relatively few restrictions. Notable EU service providers enjoying access to the U.S. market include firms like Accenture, Amadeus, Capgemini, DHL, Mistral, Publicis, SAP, Siemens, and Spotify.
The U.S. warns that if the EU continues to impose limitations on U.S. service providers, it may resort to utilizing various measures to counteract what it considers unreasonable restrictions. Potential actions could include the imposition of fees or other forms of restrictions on foreign services, in line with existing U.S. law. The U.S. administration indicates that it may apply a similar response to other nations adopting comparable strategies to those of the EU.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/845869/ustr-eu-trade-threat-spotify-mistral