 "US President Donald Trump. AP File")
President Donald Trump signed an executive order rolling back enforcement of a law prohibiting US companies from bribing foreign officials, claiming that this restriction puts American businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
According to a Bloomberg report, citing a fact sheet about the executive order, Trump is directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend actions taken under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act until she establishes new enforcement guidelines.
Moreover, all current and past actions will be subject to review, added the report.
The act prohibits companies or individuals with US connections from paying money or giving gifts to foreign officials in order to secure business abroad.
Trump considered attempting to eliminate the law during his first term.
“US companies are harmed by FCPA overenforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field,” Bloomberg quoted the fact sheet as mentioning.
“It turns out that in practicality it’s a disaster,” Trump was quoted as saying in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon.
“Nobody wants to do business with the Americans,” he added.
The act has been used to impose hundreds of millions of dollars in fines on companies around the world, including Glencore Plc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Impact Shorts
View All“This is a horrible idea that US companies DO NOT WANT,” Richard Nephew, senior research scholar at Columbia University and former anti-corruption coordinator at the State Department, said on X.
“Sure, you may find one or two, but most appreciate the fact that FCPA allows them to be firm in refusing bribes because most private sector companies - sensibly - see bribery as an unproductive cost.”
With inputs from agencies