China accused Google of breaking law. What awaits IT giant
Google faces antitrust pressure in China (photo: Getty Images)
China has initiated an antitrust investigation against Google, suspecting the company of violating antitrust laws. This decision was made in response to the US raising tariffs on Chinese goods, reports Reuters.
Content
- What is known about the investigation against Google in China
- Blacklist of US companies
- Duties on Tesla and agricultural machinery
- Escalation of the trade war
What is known about the investigation against Google in China
The State Administration for Market Regulation of China reported that Google is suspected of violating the country's antitrust laws, and an investigation has been launched in accordance with the law.
However, the agency did not provide any further details on the investigation or what actions of Google may have led to the violation of the law.
Google's products, including its search engine, are blocked in China, and the company's revenue from this country is only about 1 percent of global sales. However, Google continues to work with Chinese partners such as advertisers.
In 2017, Google announced the launch of a small artificial intelligence center in China, but this project was closed two years later, and according to the company's blog post, Google is not currently conducting AI research in China.
Blacklist of US companies
In addition, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has added the American holding company PVH Corp, which owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, as well as the biotechnology firm Illumina to its list of "unreliable" enterprises.
The Chinese authorities stated that these companies had taken "discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises" and "harmed the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."
The blacklisted companies may face fines and a wide range of sanctions, including a ban on trade and revocation of work permits for foreign personnel.
Duties on Tesla and agricultural machinery
China also announced a 10 percent tariff on imports of American agricultural equipment, which could affect companies such as Caterpillar, Deere & Co, and AGCO, as well as a small number of trucks and large sedans with high-powered engines shipped to China from the United States.
Elon Musk's Cybertruck, Tesla's electric pickup truck, which the company is actively promoting in China, may be subject to the new tariffs, pending permission to start sales.
China's Ministry of Commerce has announced that new tariffs on American goods will take effect on February 10.
Escalation of the trade war
The measures announced on Tuesday intensify the trade restrictions between Beijing and Washington, which previously mostly concerned the technology sector under the administration of former US President Joe Biden, who sought to limit China's access to advanced semiconductors.
In December, China announced the launch of an investigation into Nvidia on suspicion of violating antitrust laws. This step was seen as a response to new US sanctions against the Chinese semiconductor sector.
In addition, at the end of last year, an influential Chinese industrial group called for a security audit of Intel products sold in China.
As a reminder, Google is preparing for an unexpected outage in Chrome.
We also wrote that Taiwan has restricted access to DeepSeek and called it a security threat.
