A lobby group representing the likes of Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Uber, and Elon Musk’s X has urged US President Donald Trump’s administration to take aim at Australian laws it believes are “discriminatory” and putting its members' revenue “at risk”.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) took issue with several existing or proposed Australian regulations in a letter to the Office of the US Trade Representative, published on 11 March.
The comments, first reported by Nine, were in response to a request from the US government as it carries out a review of trade practices it believes could be harming its economy.
The CCIA took issue with Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, which made it compulsory for designated technology companies to help fund Australian journalism in return for using Australian news content.
The industry group described the law as “coercive and discriminatory” and argued US companies had helped prop-up Australian media organisations.
The News Media Bargaining Code has received pushback from the likes of Meta — which abandoned its deals in February 2024 — and Google, which has continued to pay under deals struck outside of the code.
The government has proposed a new incentivised version of the law since Meta stopped its payments, but the CCIA argued this version would still see costs “significantly increase” for any companies involved.
The Australian government said tech platforms would face major financial “charges” if they did not make revenue-sharing deals with local media companies under the new law.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet reportedly considered a broader “tech tax” late last year, but Labor opted to incentivise companies to negotiate deals with Australian media firms instead.
The CCIA also criticised Australia's proposed competition laws — similar to those already in place in the European Union — which would see tech companies face significant fines for self-preferencing their own products and services, or for misusing data.
These obligations were similarly described as “discriminatory” by the CCIA, which argued they would likely cause “trade concerns”.
Donald Trump [right] has called for deregulation of the artificial intelligence sector, which would benefit his close ally Elon Musk [left]. Photo: Facebook / Donald Trump
An Australian parliamentary committee’s push to classify all general-purpose artificial intelligence models as high-risk would also add “significant compliance burdens” for US tech giants, the CCIA argued.
The Australian government’s proposal to implement local content quotas for international streaming companies — which it shelved late last year as it awaited the outcome of the US election — would also put US revenue “at risk”, the CCIA said.
The Motion Picture Association, which represents major US film studios and streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and Paramount, has also been critical of such plans.
The Tech Council of Australia, which shares several members with the CCIA such as Apple, Google, and Uber, did not respond to a request for comment.
Tech lobby group stops short of tariffs
The Trump administration has accused several countries of ripping off the US and has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs from 2 April.
While the CCIA said “maintaining a credible threat of a robust response” was important in trade negotiations, it did not call for the US to impose tariffs on other nations.
Instead, it said the US government should work on “removal of the barriers” to US economic growth.
“Imposing targeted, reciprocal measures, while on occasion necessary as a negotiating tool, invariably incurs costs and unintended consequences, including raising costs of inputs for both domestic manufacturing, services, and corresponding exports,” it said.
“Expansive tariffs could also invite retaliatory actions that further diminish the competitiveness of US exports, particularly for markets where US digital services and products are already under threat.”
The Tech Policy Design Institute’s Johanna Weaver told ABC News that Australia was being targeted by the CCIA because it was trying to regulate technology in the best interest of its population.
“Now we need to look at, ‘What are the complications now to ensure that it doesn’t cause damage to the Australian economy, or the tech that we all use every day?’” she said on Saturday.
Trump 'a big part' of global uncertainty ahead of federal budget
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said it was “not surprising” that US tech giants would sometimes have different views to the Australian government.
"But our job, and we embrace this, is to make decisions in Australia's national interest, to protect kids online, for example, or to make sure that there's a level playing field in our media with our media organisations," he told Sky News on Friday.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers [left] says he is not surprised US tech companies may sometimes disagree with the Australian government. Image: Australian Parliament / YouTube
Australia was in “a whole new world of uncertainty” amid escalating trade tensions, Chalmers told a press conference on the same day.
The Trump administration was “a big part of that”, he said, as were global conflicts, a slowdown in China, and “political division and dissatisfaction around the world”.
The next federal budget, set to be delivered on Tuesday night, would partly be about “making our economy stronger and more resilient in the face of this global economic uncertainty", Chalmers said.
Shadow foreign affairs spokesperson David Coleman told Sky News that while Big Tech “doesn’t get to decide what Australia does”, the Labor government had not done enough to uphold the News Media Bargaining Code in the fashion it was first implemented by the Coalition.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Australians would not be “bullied by Trump’s tech oligarchs”.
Her party recently proposed a profits tax on tech giants which it said would raise $11.5 billion “over the medium term”.
“If they want to do business in Australia, they need to abide by Australian laws and pay Australian taxes,” she said.
