Europe’s digital agenda is a gift to China

Powerful AI chips are moving into China again. As Beijing does everything it can to close the gap with American AI companies, the U.S. and its European allies should pursue a trade and technology agenda designed to keep that gap open.

Instead, Brussels is spending its energy dismantling the American companies that are doing the heavy lifting.

The Digital Markets Act is sold in Brussels as a competition and consumer measure. It is neither. It imposes costs, mandates, and compliance burdens triggered by arbitrary thresholds: market capitalization instead of proven dominance, user counts instead of demonstrated harm.

The result is economic warfare disguised as regulation. Five of the seven gatekeepers currently designated by the European Commission are American: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft. Brussels has already fined U.S. firms €1.59 billion under the Digital Markets Act, including €890 million against Google in July, on top of billions more in antitrust actions against the same companies.

Brussels calls this fairness and digital sovereignty. But enforcement falls overwhelmingly on the American companies that built the modern digital economy, while European firms operate under a lighter touch. That does not make Europe stronger. It weakens American leadership abroad, hands China room to close the gap, and leaves European consumers paying more for worse alternatives.

This pattern is not confined to AI.

The European Commission’s proposed EU Space Act, now moving through Parliament and the Council, applies to........

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