I was once a part of a medium sized European start-up that was bought by a large US company. Even though everyone got rich off the acquisition, we came to view this as a failure. If we didn't agree to be bought, we knew we would be out spent/marketed by the much larger (though much more clumsy) US company.
At the end of the day, the Europeans will not consign themselves to US dominance (and the Chinese certainly won't). The EU moves slowly, but there are clear signs the past few years that it is moving to curb US tech multinationals in order to nurture domestic alternatives. While I support free trade in principle, I think this is a good development for Europe.
Oh please, like anyone doing trade negotiations would give a shit. Do you think those people have even heard about soundcloud? They haven't.
Really.
"Indeed this is what is happening right now with EU anti-trusting"
No. Read up on what anti-trust laws are. The US has them too.
"Additionally, like the Chinese, Europeans are getting increasingly weary of reliance of US made hardware"
The NSA tinkering with certain US-made hardware is not really helping sales.
Perhaps you have to look at the outcome of the proceedings of the last ten years and you will see that this is wrong
Spotify and SoundCloud are some of the European IT stories at the moment, if they are both slaughtered by Apple, that will not go well for trade negotiations. Additionally, like the Chinese, Europeans are getting increasingly weary of reliance of US made hardware.
Upshot: Spotify and SoundCloud failing will give more fuel to EU protectionists and will in the long run curb the reach of US tech multinationals.