[German]US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has instructed US diplomats to work to undermine the EU's online moderation rules and to lobby the EU Commission accordingly. This is according to an article by Reuters, which has obtained a copy of a letter sent to diplomats in the EU.
Amerikanischen tech companies are unhappy with the digital and moderation rules that the EU has enacted to protect European citizens in the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA). They want all of this to be removed so that they can roll up the EU market like the Wild West.
Now Reuters (subscription required) reports on July 7, 2025, on instructions from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to US diplomats. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a letter to US diplomats in Europe on August 4, 2025. The letter instructs the country's diplomats to try to "repeal and/or amend" the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).
Euractiv summarized the whole situation in this article and writes that this revelation is likely to fuel fears that the US could succeed in persuading the EU Commission to water down, if not completely abolish, the enforcement of its digital regulations in order to seal a trade agreement with the US.
The Commission's trade spokesman, Olof Gill, tried to downplay this development. "As we have said many times before, and I repeat now: our EU regulations and standards have never been up for discussion, and that will not change," Gill wrote in a May letter to Euractiv.
But storm clouds are gathering. The customs agreement with the EU has apparently not yet been finalized. On August 6, 2025, US President Trump announced a 100% tariff on imports of semiconductors, with the only exceptions being companies that manufacture chips in the US or commit to doing so. Shortly before that, the EU had announced that it had agreed with the US on a general 15% tariff, which also applies to chips manufactured in the EU.
The EU is hopeful that its agreement with the US will hold: According to Euractiv, Gill emphasized that the US had committed to a 15% tariff cap on EU exports of semiconductors "regardless of other tariffs."
Euractiv suspects that the threat of 100% US tariffs on chips may just be a flash in the pan. But the US offensive against the EU's groundbreaking online moderation law is likely to be a long-term one. This issue goes beyond the current tariff negotiations between the EU and the US. According to Reuters, US Secretary of State Rubio's telegram instructs US diplomats to regularly contact EU governments and digital services authorities to convey US concerns.
