Exclusive-US lawmakers urge Biden to probe EU targeting of tech firms -letter

By Martin Coulter
LONDON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers has written to U.S. President Joe Biden, warning European technology regulation could threaten U.S. interests. Under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), five major U.S. tech companies – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Metam and Microsoft — were designated “gatekeeper” service providers. From March 2024, these companies – as well as TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance – will be required to make their messaging apps inter-operate with rivals and let users choose upfront which ones they want pre-installed on their devices. In a letter shared exclusively with Reuters, 21 members of the U.S. House of Representatives warned the new rules could damage American economic and security interests, and called on Biden to secure commitments from the EU the rules will be enforced fairly. “Securing our leadership in this sector is imperative for our economy and American workers,” the letter said. “The designation of leading U.S. companies as ‘gatekeepers’ threatens to upend the U.S. economy, diminish our global leadership in the digital sphere, and jeopardize the security of consumers.”

(Reporting by Martin Coulter, Editing by Franklin Paul)