In the aftermath of the EU's latest escalation in its tax war with US multinational corporations, the rebuke from the US was swift, stretching from the US Treasury all the way to Congress: according to Kevin Brady, the House Ways and Means Chairman, the EU Apple decision was  "predatory and naked tax grab." Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Senate Democrat on the committee, said that the EU is unfairly undermining U.S. companies' ability to compete in Europe.  Naturally, the Treasury also chimed in, and a spokesperson said that "the Commission's actions could threaten to undermine foreign investment, the business climate in Europe, and the important spirit of economic partnership between the U.S. and the EU."

Naturally, the US would confine itself only to heated words: after all, there was little chance Washington would do anything to truly jeopardize trade relations between the two core trading partners, and Europe knows it.

However, with Europe desperate to boost its dwindling public coffers and only beginning its anti-tax avoidance campaign, AAPL was merely the start in the European Commission's crackdown.  As the WSJ writes, following today's ruling that Apple got an unfair advantage over its competitors because of help it got from Ireland government's, the EU's antitrust regulator is likely next to turn to two other ongoing tax investigations on its docket: Amazon.com and McDonald's.