
Meta risks antitrust fines as it resists more EU rule changes
Despite warnings in June from European Union regulators, the tech giant has no plans to offer further changes to the model, which allows users to pay to avoid data tracking. Unless circumstances shift, people with direct knowledge said, Meta is not expected to modify its approach any further.
The EC had threatened daily fines after concluding that Meta's current adjustments did not fully comply with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The company already received a 200 million euro (US$234 million) fine in April for violating the DMA between its introduction in November 2023 and November 2024.
Meta made limited modifications in late 2024 to reduce the use of personal data in targeted ads. However, those changes triggered continued scrutiny from Brussels, which argues that the model still violates rules designed to curb Big Tech dominance.
New antitrust charges are expected in the coming weeks, sources said, followed by daily fines of up to five percent of Meta's global average daily revenue, starting from June 27—though a final decision is still pending.
Meta shares fell 1.7 percent in mid-session trading after the Reuters report was published.
When contacted, Meta declined to comment but referred to earlier statements, saying the company believes it is in compliance with the DMA and offers European users more choice than the law requires. Meta also accused the European Commission of unfairly targeting its business model.
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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Trump sets 19% tariff on Indonesia goods in latest deal, EU readies retaliation
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media after arriving at Joint Base Andrews, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19 per cent tariff on goods from Indonesia under a new agreement with the Southeast Asian country and more deals were coming, while offering fresh details on planned duties on pharmaceuticals. Trump announced the pact with Indonesia, a relatively minor U.S. trading partner, as he continued to press for what he views as better terms with trading partners and ways to shrink a huge U.S. trade deficit. Letters setting tariff rates for dozens of smaller countries were also coming soon, he said on Tuesday. The deal with Indonesia is among the handful struck so far by the Trump administration ahead of an August 1 deadline when duties on most U.S. imports are due to rise again. The accord came as the top U.S. trading partner - the European Union - readied retaliatory measures should talks with Washington fail. As that deadline approached, negotiations were under way with other nations eager to avoid more U.S. levies beyond a baseline 10 per cent on most goods that has been in place since April. Trump's roll-out of the policies has often been chaotic. His moves have upended decades of negotiated reductions in global trade barriers, unsettling international financial markets and threatening a new wave of inflation. Based on Trump tariff announcements through Sunday, Yale Budget Lab estimated the U.S. effective average tariff rates will rise to 20.6 per cent from between 2 per cent and 3 per cent before Trump's return to the White House in January. Consumption shifts would bring the rate down to 19.7 per cent, but it's still the highest since 1933. Trump outlined an Indonesia deal similar to a preliminary pact struck recently with Vietnam, with a flat tariff on exports to the U.S. roughly double the current 10 per cent and no levies on U.S. exports going there. It also included a penalty rate for so-called transhipments of goods from China via Indonesia and a commitment to buy some U.S. goods. 'They are going to pay 19 per cent and we are going to pay nothing ... we will have full access into Indonesia, and we have a couple of those deals that are going to be announced,' Trump said outside the Oval Office. Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that Indonesia had agreed to buy US$15 billion of U.S. energy products, $4.5 billion of American farm products and 50 Boeing jets, though no time frame was specified. He told reporters the deal with Vietnam was 'pretty well set' but said it was not necessary to release details. Trump: India talks moving the same way Indonesia's total trade with the U.S. - totalling just under $40 billion in 2024 - does not rank in the top 15, but it has been growing. U.S. exports to Indonesia rose 3.7 per cent last year, while imports from there were up 4.8 per cent, leaving the U.S. with a goods trade deficit of nearly $18 billion. The top U.S. import categories from Indonesia, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from the International Trade Centre's TradeMap tool, last year were palm oil, electronics equipment including data routers and switches, footwear, car tires, natural rubber and frozen shrimp. Susiwijono Moegiarso, a senior official with Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, told Reuters in a text message: 'We are preparing a joint statement between U.S. and Indonesia that will explain the size of reciprocal tariff for Indonesia including the tariff deal, non-tariff and commercial arrangements. We will inform (the public) soon.' Trump had threatened the country with a 32 per cent tariff rate starting August 1 in a letter sent to its president last week. He sent similar letters to about two dozen trading partners this month, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, laying out tariff rates ranging from 20 per cent to 50 per cent, plus a 50 per cent tariff on copper. Speaking in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Trump said he favored blanket tariffs over complicated negotiations, but his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were keen to land more trade agreements. Upon his arrival back in Washington, Trump told reporters that letters would be going out soon for many smaller countries, suggesting they would face a tariff of 'a little over 10 per cent.' He said his administration would also announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the United States, probably at the end of the month, starting with what he called a low tariff rate to give companies time to move manufacturing to the U.S. before imposing a 'very high tariff' in a year or so. The August 1 deadline gives targeted countries time to negotiate about lower tariff rates. Some economists have also noted Trump's pattern of backing off his tariff threats. Since launching his tariff policy, Trump has clinched only a few 'framework' agreements, falling short of earlier promises to land '90 deals in 90 days.' So far, such deals have been reached with the U.K. and Vietnam, and an interim deal has been struck with China to forestall the steepest of Trump's tariffs while negotiations continue between Washington and Beijing. Trump said talks with India were moving 'along that same line,' saying the agreement would give U.S. firms access to the large Indian market. EU readies retaliation The breakthrough with Indonesia came as the European Commission, which oversees trade for the EU, prepared to target 72 billion euros ($84.1 billion) worth of U.S. goods - from Boeing aircraft and bourbon whiskey to cars - for possible tariffs if trade talks with Washington fail. Trump has threatened a 30 per cent tariff on imports from the EU from August 1, a level European officials say is unacceptable and would end normal trade between two of the world's largest markets. The list, sent to EU member states and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, pre-dated Trump's move over the weekend to ramp up pressure on the 27-nation bloc and responded instead to U.S. duties on cars and car parts and a 10 per cent baseline tariff. The package also covers chemicals, medical devices, electrical and precision equipment as well as agriculture and food products - a range of fruits and vegetables, along with wine, beer and spirits - valued at 6.35 billion euros. Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels and David Lawder and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; Richard Lough in Paris; Amanda Teresia, Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo in Jakarta; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Chizu Nomiyama, Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates.


Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
France, UK and Germany would restore UN sanctions on Iran next month without progress on a deal
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough U.N. sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said Tuesday. The three countries' ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany's U.N. Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call Monday between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two U.S. officials. The State Department said after the call that the four had spoken about 'ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon.' The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The U.K., France and Germany are part of an agreement reached with Iran in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. during his first term, insisting it wasn't tough enough. Under the accord that lifted economic penalties on Iran in exchange for restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program, a so-called 'snapback' provision allows one of the Western parties to reimpose U.N. sanctions if Tehran does not comply with its requirements. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters in Brussels Tuesday that the three European countries would be justified in reapplying sanctions. 'Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,' Barrot said, according to Reuters. One of the diplomats confirmed his comments to The Associated Press. The diplomats did not provide details of the deal being sought. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in recent days that Tehran would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S. if there were assurances of no more attacks, following Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities. He said there should be 'a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated, stressing that 'the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution.' The United States and Iran held several rounds of negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program before the Israeli strikes began in June. Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last week that talks would happen soon, but nothing has yet been scheduled. Araghchi, whose country insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, said in a July 2 CBS interview that 'the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.' Iran's U.N. Mission had no comment Tuesday on the threat of renewed sanctions if there is no deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said last week that the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country's nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction. Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA. ___ AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.


CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Rising clothing, vehicle prices drive inflation increase
Canada's inflation rate rose to 1.9 per cent in June, driven largely by higher prices on clothing and vehicles. The higher consumer costs are in part because of uncertainty created by U.S. tariff threats.