> US tech companies are about to be used as the biggest punching bag in history by the European Union. They’ll negotiate first, for sure, because that’s what the EU likes to do, but for sure the fines and reciprocal non-tariff barriers are going to only expand for US tech firms in the very near future if the Trump admin doesn’t want to negotiate.<p>For sure this will happen but there is a reason. The EU turned a blind eye on a lot of dark patterns used by the biggest players (such as lenient approach to scams that are omnipresent on Facebook, Instagram, Google platforms) and whatever these companies did they knew they might get a slap on the wrist maximum. Now that good relations are over, why would the EU tolerate this shit?