The European Union's top competition regulator stood by herdecision to demand more than $14 billion in tax repayments fromApple Inc. and tweeted that she may investigate other major U.S.companies, ahead of meetings with officials in Washington.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU's commissioner for competition, metMonday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew; Federal TradeCommission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez; Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah,chairman of the Finance Committee; and other key lawmakers.

Hatch said Vestager failed to make “an effective case for thishighly politicized ruling rooted in an erroneous interpretation oflaw.”

“Rather than working with countries to strengthen theinternational tax framework and improve the rule of law, theEuropean Commission, in its recent state aid ruling, opted to runroughshod over an American firm by retroactively overriding a taxopinion between a sovereign country and a company,” the UtahRepublican said in a statement.

Lew, in his meeting with Vestager, told her that the EuropeanCommission's moves call into question the tax rules of individualcountries and could undermine the overall business climate inEurope, according to a Treasury statement Monday evening.

Vestager appeared to confirm on Twitter that probes may belaunched against companies associated with the Business Roundtable,which on Sept. 16 sent a sharply worded letter to the heads of 28EU member states. The group says it represents chief executiveofficers of U.S. companies with $7 trillion in annual revenue. Itsmembers include Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric Co., JamieDimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Kenneth Chenaultof American Express Co.

Vestager was contacted on Twitter by Davide Serra, CEO andfounder at Algebris Investments, who wrote on Sept. 17: “Apple : soin the USA there are 185 CEO which think it's legal to pay 0.05%Taxes in Europe! @ vestager pls check what they pay asap!” Shepromptly responded: “I will. And I keep thinking about all the CEOswho just make sure that their companies do pay their taxes. Theyexist too.”

In the letter, the Business Roundtable said the EU's decision torecover 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) from Apple for allegedillegal state aid “must not be allowed to stand.”

“If you're this large U.S. competitor and all your competitorsare offshore, under the tax code you have, you're putting yourselfat a significant disadvantage,” Business Roundtable President JohnEngler said in an interview with Bloomberg Television Monday.“There's a point at which the shareholders and investors aresaying, 'Wait a minute, can we remain competitive?'”

The group's interest in the matter “is for respect of the ruleof law,” Engler said. “Unless set aside, this EC decision sets aprecedent that EU member states do not control their taxaffairs.”

McDonald's Taxes

Last year, EU regulators alleged that McDonald's Corp.sidestepped corporate taxes in Luxembourg for about five years. TheFinancial Times reported that the potential tax bill in the countrycould be $500 million, citing its own analysis of the probe.

McDonald's hasn't been told by the EU that it owes $500 million,said Terri Hickey, a company spokeswoman. From 2011 to 2015,McDonald's companies paid more than $2.5 billion in corporateincome taxes in the EU, with an average rate approaching 27%, shesaid.

“We pay the taxes that are owed and have not received anypreferential treatment,” Hickey said.

In a separate interview with Germany's Handelsblatt published onSunday, Vestager defended the decision to pursue the tax repaymentorder against Apple. Lew has said the EU's use of state-aid rulesis “not appropriate.”

“It is 100% legitimate to tax profit where it is generated,”Vestager told the newspaper. “From our perspective, it isirritating when American companies pay less in taxes than Europeanones.”

U.S. officials have derided Brussels on the Apple decision.Washington's claim that the Apple taxes rightly belong to the U.S.is “difficult to comprehend,” Vestager told Handelsblatt.

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