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EU fines Apple and Meta €700m, risking Trump fury

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Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. were hit by relatively modest European Union fines totaling €700 million ($798 million) for violating tough new antitrust rules for Big Tech, following warnings of harsh retaliation from US President Donald Trump.

EU regulators levied the penalties — €500 million against Apple and €200 million against Meta — under its Digital Markets Act, which includes a list of dos and don’ts mainly aimed at Silicon Valley giants.

“Apple and Meta have fallen short,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said on Wednesday.

“All companies operating in the EU must follow our laws and respect European values.”

The punishments — the first under the DMA — are far lower than previous penalties under traditional EU competition law, and are likely to be seen as an attempt to avoid further provoking Trump, who recently laid out a swath of tariffs on global economies.

He’s specifically called out the EU’s tech regulations as the kind of non-tariff trade barrier that his so-called reciprocal tariffs are intended to target.

The European Commission said that Apple had failed to allow developers to link out from its App Store in order to make sales outside of the company’s marketplace.

Meta’s business model for ad-free services on Instagram and Facebook also fell foul of the tech law, which gives regulators fining powers of up to 10% of a company’s global annual revenue.

Both firms must comply with the EU decision within 60 days, or face the risk of further financial penalties.

Apple was also warned that its new fee structure for app developers — itself a plan devised to comply with EU rules — isn’t in line with the EU Big Tech rulebook.

Apple responded fiercely to the EU penalty, accusing the bloc’s regulators of discriminating against the company and forcing it to give away its technology for free.

The Cupertino, California-based company said it would appeal the fine to the EU courts. Just last year, the company was hit with a €1.8 billion EU fine for shutting out music-streaming rivals on the iPhone.

Meta’s head of global affairs Joel Kaplan also hit back, saying the EU “is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”

The EU decision “isn’t just about a fine; the commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service,” said Kaplan.

“And by unfairly restricting personalized advertising the European Commission is also hurting European businesses and economies.

”The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Asked about whether the commission had deliberately kept the fines low to avoid provoking Trump, the Brussels-based EU commission said the fines were “proportionate” to the alleged gravity and duration of breaches of the DMA, which became applicable two years ago.

“This is about enforcement. It’s not about trade negotiations,” commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta told reporters.

Still, the size of the fines “suggest an easing of European regulatory pressure on US tech giants,” according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tamlin Bason.

“Penalties under the competition law could have been as much as 10% of total revenue, but ended up being less than 0.15% of each company’s 2024 sales, likely reflecting caution on aggressive enforcement against a tense backdrop in US-EU relations,” Bason said.

Despite its fine, Apple did see EU watchdogs close an investigation into online browsers after it rejigged how it offers users more choice on their iPhones.

EU regulators also backtracked on their decision to target Facebook Marketplace under the DMA. Meta was hit by a €798 million EU fine for alleged abuses on that service last year under standard antitrust law.

Apple shares rose 3.5% and Meta advanced 7% in early New York trading while the S&P 500 Index was up 3%.

Over recent years the EU has made costly penalties against firms, including more than $8 billion in fines against Alphabet Inc.’s Google and a separate order for Apple to pay Ireland back taxes of €13 billion.

Under its abuse-of-dominance rules, it has also forced changes out of Amazon.com Inc.’s marketplace platform and Apple’s tap-and-go chip, while also investigating Microsoft Corp. video conference software, Teams.

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Nigeria First Policy: Customs Championing Made-in-Nigeria Vehicles Procurements

In terms of aesthetics, I am satisfied with what I see here. In terms of functionality, we have been assured by the manufacturers that the vehicles are quite efficient.”

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The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi has assured members of the Nigeria Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA) that the Service would champion the procurements of locally assembled vehicles from the auto manufacturers inline with the government’s Nigeria First Policy Directive.

CGC Adeniyi gave the assurance when he inspected vehicles produced by members of the Nigeria Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA) at the Service’s headquarters, Maitama, Abuja.

After the inspection, the CGC commended the association for turning up in full strength and expressed satisfaction with the quality of the vehicles.

He remarked, “In terms of aesthetics, I am satisfied with what I see here. In terms of functionality, we have been assured by the manufacturers that the vehicles are quite efficient.”

“What gives me joy is that in all the vehicles I have seen today, there is an imprint of Nigeria, which shows that they are fully assembled here. It gives me joy that Mr President’s policy is on the right course,” he added.

He further praised President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Nigeria First policy initiative in the automobile industry.

He pledged that the Nigeria Customs Service would continue to patronise and support the sector for the growth and well-being of the nation’s industrial economy.

In response, Ilekuba Anslem Chairman, Chief Executive Officer of Cedric Masters Group, commended the CGC for his unwavering support for the automobile industry.

Also, Oluwatobi Ajayi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nord Automobile Limited, praised the CGC.

“Even before this policy was announced, you had been championing made-in-Nigeria vehicles.

With Mr President’s announcement, we are confident that you will be the first CEO of a government parastatal to fully champion this policy,” he said.

He assured the CGC that the company would not abandon its vehicles after sales.Similarly, Jonas Ojukwu, a Director at Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), assured the Nigeria Customs Service of the company’s commitment to delivering the best to the Service.

Other stakeholders who spoke at the event included representatives from Mikano Motors Nigeria and Stallion Motors Nigeria.

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Lagos Marks 39 Building in Lekki Axis for Demolition

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, explained that government swung into action following a series of petitions on encroachment of the Ikota River.

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Lagos State government has marked no fewer than 39 buildings located in two highbrow estates for demolition for building on the Right of Way, RoW, of Ikota River, at Eti-Osa Local Government Area. Ikota is part of the Maroko Okun Alfa Ward in the Lekki axis.

This is coming as the state government issued indefinite quit notices to affected occupants to enable them move their properties and families before the demolition exercise commences.

The affected buildings, located at Oral Extension Estate, Westend and Megamound Estate, Eti-Osa, LGA, include 20 buildings to be totally removed, eight marked for partial removal, while 13 buildings are to go down at Westend Estate.

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, explained that government swung into action following a series of petitions on encroachment of the Ikota River.

Wahab said: “We had several complaints. We have been on this for a while now, and we found out at the ministry level that while we are engaging to find a win-win solution that will mitigate the negative impact on the environment and they don’t affect the people so much. Some developments were also going on to further push back the RoW, and the alignment of the Ikota River.

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Senate Constitutes Abdullahi Yahaya Tax Harmonisation Committee

Altogether, the four Tax Reform bills were Executive Bills transmitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the two chambers of the National Assembly in November last year.

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The Senate on Thursday constituted a committee saddled with the responsibility of harmonizing its amendments to the tax reform bills with the House of Representatives version for final transmission to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced this during plenary after the passage of the bills.

Akpabio named senator Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi North) as chairman of the committee.

The members of the committee as announced by the Senate President are Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South), Chief Whip, Tahir Mongumo (APC, Borno North), Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), and Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West).

Earlier, the remaining two Tax Reform Bills — the Nigeria Tax Bill 2025 and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, 2025.

This was in addition to passage of the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2025, and the Nigerian Tax Administration Bill, 2025.

Altogether, the four Tax Reform bills were Executive Bills transmitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the two chambers of the National Assembly in November last year.

The passage of the bills was sequel to the consideration and adoption of a report of the Senate Committee on Finance presented by its Chairman, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East).

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