 "Trump administration warns EU companies to comply with diversity ban")
US President Donald Trump’s administration has written a letter to a couple of large companies based in the European Union, asking them to comply with Washington’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programmes, as the country has enforced in many federal departments.
The letter, sent by the American embassy in Paris and others around the EU, said that companies outside of the US providing services or are suppliers to the US government are obliged to comply with Trump’s anti-diversity order, according to a report by Financial Times.
The embassies have also sent a questionnaire to the companies ordering them to attest to their compliance. The document read, “Department of State contractors must certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable anti-discrimination laws and agree that such certification is material for purposes of the government’s payment decision and therefore subject to the False Claims Act.”
The letter has also been forwarded by US diplomats, addressed to eastern EU states and Belgium.
The documents suggest that the Trump administration is expanding its efforts against DEI to include foreign companies, following its earlier crackdown on U.S. media organizations like Disney.
‘It’s crazy’
France has responded to its companies receiving the letter, expressing concerns about the move. “This practice reflects the values of the new US government. They are not the same as ours. The ministry will remind his counterparts in the US government of that,” a person close to France’s economy minister Eric Lombard.
Meanwhile, a banker in Paris said he was shocked to see the letter. “It’s crazy . . . but everything is now possible. The rule of the strongest now prevails,” he said.
DEI programs have not typically gained traction in France due to legal restrictions on collecting racial and ethnic data. Employers are prohibited from considering an individual’s background when making hiring or promotion decisions.
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