BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) -

Alphabet unit Google was hit with two charges of

breaching landmark EU rules on Wednesday while Apple was ordered

to help rivals connect with its iPhones and iPads, as antitrust

regulators continued a crackdown against Big Tech.

The move by the European Commission came amid tensions with

U.S. President Donald Trump who has threatened to levy tariffs

against countries which impose fines on U.S. companies.

Both Google and Apple have been in the European Commission's

crosshairs since March last year over concerns that they may not

be complying with the Digital Markets Act, which aims to rein in

the power of Big Tech via a list of dos and don'ts.

The Google case centred on whether it restricts app

developers from informing users about offers outside its app

store Google Play and whether it favours its vertical search

services such as Google Flights in Google Search.

The EU competition watchdog on Wednesday issued preliminary

findings charging Google of DMA violations in both areas,

confirming a Reuters story on Feb. 21.

The Commission also issued two orders to Apple to open up

its ecosystem to rivals, six months after it opened so-called

specification proceedings against the iPhone maker.

The first charge in the Google case focused on the company's

practices on its app store Google Play. Alphabet technically

prevents app developers from freely steering consumers to other

channels for better offers, regulators said.

A service fee charged by the company for facilitating the

initial acquisition of a new customer by an app developer via

Google Play goes beyond what is justified, they added.

In the second charge, regulators said Google favoured its

own services such as Google Shopping, Google Hotels and Google

Flights over rivals.

Google pushed back, saying that EU competition rules are

hurting consumers and businesses.

"The Commission's findings require us to make even more

changes to how we show certain types of Search results, which

would make it harder for people to find what they are looking

for and reduce traffic to European businesses," Oliver Bethell,

Google's senior director, Competition, said in a blogpost.

He said if the company can't charge reasonable fees to

support the ongoing development of Android and the Play

services, then it cannot invest in an open platform.

EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement

that the measures "ensure that Alphabet abides by EU rules when

it comes to two services widely used by businesses and consumers

across the EU, Google Search and Android phones."

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