BRUSSELS, Belgium, Aug 26, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The European Commission Tuesday asserted the "sovereign right" to regulate the activities of tech giants within the bloc -- while rejecting claims by President Donald Trump that its rules unfairly harm US firms.

Brussels has adopted a powerful legal arsenal aimed at reining in tech giants -- namely through its Digital Markets Act (DMA) covering competition and the Digital Services Act (DSA) on content moderation.

Without explicitly naming the EU, Trump Monday threatened fresh tariffs on countries with regulations that sought to "harm" American technology -- just days after both sides released details of a hard-fought transatlantic trade deal.

"It is the sovereign right of the EU and its member states to regulate economic activities on our territory which are consistent with our democratic values," European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho told reporters in response.

Regarding "President Trump's statements on the fact that we're targeting US companies, this is something that we can firmly rebut," added EU tech spokesman Thomas Regnier.

Among its provisions, the DSA instructs platforms to suspend users who frequently share illegal content such as hate speech -- something framed as "censorship" by detractors across the Atlantic.

"The claims that the DSA is a censorship tool are completely wrong and completely unfounded," Regnier said.

The EU has already slapped heavy fines on US behemoths including Meta and Apple under its new digital rules, which have faced months of pushback from Trump's administration.

The bloc's trade chief Maros Sefcovic insisted last week that Brussels successfully "kept these issues out of the trade negotiations" with Washington -- and that the bloc's "regulatory autonomy" was not up for debate.