AN EU ruling that Apple Inc. must pay a huge tax bill to Ireland was clearly based on facts and existing rules and was not a decision aimed against the United States, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Sunday.

    Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook last week described the ruling as “total political crap.”

    Juncker said EU Commission investigations on taxation had mainly targeted European firms.

    The ruling against Apple has pushed the issue into the limelight and raised the risk of significant push-back from the United States, analysts say, where some lawmakers are saying the result represents a European encroachment on the U.S. potential tax base.

    Juncker’s remarks appeared designed to reassure U.S. lawmakers, who have bickered for years over the treatment of off-shore income but now fear that the EU Commission move would mean more profits earned by U.S. corporations flowing into European tax coffers. (SD-Agencies)