Donald Trump has signed an executive order to pause enforcement of a federal law that makes it a criminal act for US businesses to bribe foreign officials. Signing the executive order on Monday evening, February 10, the president said the law puts companies at a disadvantage on the global stage. He directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to stop actions taken under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, including prosecutions of American people and companies who were charged by the Justice Department with bribing foreign government officials to gain business in other countries.
What did Donald Trump say?
“It sounds good on paper, but in practicality, it’s a disaster,” Trump said, as reported by USA TODAY. “It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there, legally, legitimately or otherwise, it’s almost a guaranteed investigation indictment, and nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it.”
“It was a Jimmy Carter concept, and it sounds so good, but it’s so bad. It hurts the country and many, many deals are unable to be made because nobody wants to do business,” he added.
The new order is expected to restore American economic competitiveness. Bondi is required to draw up “revised, reasonable enforcement guidelines” for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, a White House fact sheet obtained by the outlet stated. “American national security depends on America and its companies gaining strategic commercial advantages around the world, and President Trump is stopping excessive, unpredictable FCPA enforcement that makes American companies less competitive,” the fact sheet added.
The fact sheet further noted that US companies “are harmed by FCPA overenforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field.”
The White House said that all current and past actions also will be reviewed. After new and more relaxed guidelines are issued by Bondi, all “future FCPA investigations and enforcement actions will be governed by this new guidance and must be approved by the Attorney General,” the White House added. It further said that FCPA interpretation and enforcement by US prosecutors “has broadened, imposing a growing cost on our Nation’s economy” over time.
The White House noted that over the past decade, there has been an average of 36 FCPA-related enforcement actions per year, “draining resources from both American businesses and law enforcement.” “President Trump is committed to prioritizing American economic and security interests and ensuring U.S. businesses have the tools to succeed globally,” it added.