BRUSSELS — Europe’s antitrust chief Teresa Ribera has unleashed a blistering attack on the Trump administration, accusing Washington of using “blackmail” to strong-arm the EU into watering down its tech rulebook.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Monday in Brussels that the U.S. could modify its approach on steel and aluminum tariffs if the EU reconsidered its digital rules. European officials interpreted his remarks as an attack against the EU’s flagship tech regulations, including the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

“It is blackmail,” the Spanish commissioner told POLITICO in an interview on Wednesday. “[This] being their intention does not mean that we accept that kind of blackmail.”

Ribera — who as executive vice president of the Commission ranks second to President Ursula von der Leyen — said the EU’s digital rulebook should have nothing to do with trade negotiations. Donald Trump’s team is seeking to overhaul the framework trade agreement he struck with von der Leyen at his Scottish golf resort in July.

The intervention lands at a sensitive time in ongoing trade talks. Washington views the DMA as discriminatory because the large technology platforms it regulates — like Microsoft, Google or Amazon — are nearly all American. It also takes exception to the Digital Services Act, which seeks to curb illegal online speech, seeing it as designed to restrict social networks like Elon Musk’s X.

Ribera said the rules were a matter of sovereignty and should not be brought into the scope of a trade negotiation.

“We respect the rules, whatever rules, they’ve got for their market: digital market, health sector, steel, whatever … cars, standards,” she said referring to the U.S. “It is their problem. It is their regulation and their sovereignty. So it is the case here.” 

Ribera, along with EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen, oversees the DMA, which polices the behavior of large digital platforms and seeks to uphold fair competition.

She weighed in forcefully on comments Lutnick made after he met EU officials and ministers on Monday, saying “the European digital rulebook is not up for negotiation.”

Virkkunen echoed that view on Tuesday. On Monday she presented the EU’s simplification package, including the digital omnibus proposal, to her American counterparts. The package has been presented as an EU-centric push to reduce red tape, but interpreted by some as an attempt to address the concerns of U.S. Big Tech around regulation.

Asked why she had made such a strong statement, Ribera answered that Lutnick’s remarks were “a direct attack against the DMA.” She added: “It is under my responsibility to defend a well-functioning digital market in Europe.” 

Cracks are showing

Despite the uncompromising response from Ribera, solidarity over the DMA is starting to show subtle cracks among EU countries. 

Lutnick said after Monday’s meeting that some EU trade ministers weren’t as resistant as the Commission to the idea of reviewing the bloc’s digital rules. “I see a lot of ministers … some are more open-minded than others,” he told Bloomberg TV, saying that if Europe wants U.S. investment it should change its regulatory model.

At least one European participant appeared to agree. Germany’s Katherina Reiche, speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, told reporters that she was in favor of a further loosening of the EU’s digital rules. 

“Germany has made it clear that we want opportunities to play a part in the digital world,” said Reiche, specifically citing the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act.

Washington’s lobbying effort to weaken the EU’s digital rulebook comes amid a broader global push by the U.S. to weaken digital laws in foreign jurisdictions. 

This month, South Korea caved to lobbying efforts by the Trump administration and walked back its own proposed digital competition regime. 

The U.S. Trade Representative is preparing its 2026 report and launching another round of consultations in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Commission is trudging forward with an assessment of the rules under its “Digital Fairness Fitness Check” and the ongoing DMA review.

But with Washington lobbing grenades and EU countries breaking ranks, the question isn’t just what the review says — it’s whether the DMA can survive the trade war.