Europeans are learning a painful lesson. Just this week, the EU slammed Google with a roughly $1 billion fine for Digital Markets Act violations involving its Google Play app store and search practices that deliberately favor European competitors over American innovation. These and other heavy-handed EU regulations unfairly targeting U.S. e-commerce and tech giants are now actively denying European consumers access to advanced American technology—including the new Siri AI system, which will soon roll out on iPhones and iPads in the United States, and Google’s Gemini AI system.
Not only do similar South Korean actions against American firms risk cutting off South Korean consumers from new technologies in e-commerce, mapping, cloud services, and other sectors, but they also threaten to undermine the vital U.S.-South Korea defense alliance.
The most glaring example is the treatment of Coupang, a U.S.-headquartered e-commerce leader often called the “Amazon of Asia.” Following a limited 2025 data breach involving a disgruntled former employee, South Korean authorities launched a sweeping, whole-of-government campaign against the company. This included dozens of investigations, thousands of document requests, a record $410 million fine, criminal referrals, travel bans on executives, and threats to business licenses.
A July 1, 2026, U.S. House Judiciary Committee report assessed that this was discriminatory treatment against a U.S. firm that violated a free trade agreement reached in late 2025 by President Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
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