Chennai: India is one of the key nations that are trying to rein in digital giants like Meta, Apple and Alphabet and restore fair competition through regulations. However, the Trump administration’s efforts to impose tariffs for regulating digital giants will lead to high concentration in digital markets and will threaten participation of smaller firms in developing economies, finds the UN’s trade body.Between February 2020 and May 2025, Europe has made 263 competition interventions in the digital economy followed by Asia with 152 interventions. In comparison, the Americas has made 64 interventions, Africa 16 and Oceania 15. Since the European Union enacted the DMA, targeting dominant “gatekeepers” like Apple, Meta, and Alphabet with strict rules to level the playing field,19 countries including Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom have followed suit with their own digital competition laws, finds UNCTAD. However, in February 2025 US President Trump announced the “Directive to Prevent the Unfair Exploitation of American Innovation,” a new measure under the America First Trade Policy. It pledged to impose tariffs and trade restrictions in response to foreign regulations—particularly those affecting digital markets—viewed as threats to US technology firms that have driven “America’s digital economic dominance.” The Executive Order complements the 2025 Trade Policy Agenda, specifically identifying regulations, data localization mandates, and cross-border data restrictions targeting US companies as potential trade barriers. Such policies will lead to digital markets remaining highly concentrated, with significant power held by a few dominant global platforms. Left unchecked, this concentration threatens to undermine competition, stifles innovation, weakens consumer choice, and limits the ability of smaller firms—especially in developing countries—to participate meaningfully in the digital economy, finds UNCTAD.
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