If French companies that collaborate with the United States have received a pressure from the Trump administration to find out if they practice policies to combat discrimination, they are not the only ones in Europe. Saturday, the newspaper Corriere della will be was echoing similar missives in Italy. According to the daily, “the United States Embassy in Rome is also required to send opinions” to renounce the criteria of inclusion and diversity to Italian suppliers of goods and services to Washington. Contacted by the newspaper, the United States diplomatic headquarters in Rome simply replied: “Our commitment to local partners is in accordance with the policies and procedures of the American government”.
In France, the letter, sent by the United States Embassy to Paris last week, strongly suggests several tricolor companies to remove their diversity programs if they wish to continue working with the American State. “We inform you that Decree 14.173, concerning the end of illegal discrimination and restoring professional opportunities based on merit, signed by President Trump, also applies to all providers and providers of the American government, whatever their nationality or the country in which they operate”, can be read in this document, consulted by Les Echos.
Aviation and defense groups, consulting providers and infrastructure companies are among French companies, and now more broadly, European, potentially exposed to the requirements of the administration. “American interference in the inclusion policies of French companies, such as the threats of unjustified customs duties, are unacceptable,” retorted the French Ministry of Foreign Trade in a message transmitted to AFP.
East of the EU also targeted
Friday, after newspapers The echoes And Le Figaro revealed the existence of this letter, to which the recipients have only “Five days “ To answer, the Financial Times revealed that the mail had also been sent by American diplomats to Belgium and in countries in the east of EU. According to the Belgian daily The eveningthe Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Equal Equity have all rejected the pressure exerted by the United States on Sunday on the diversity policy of European companies, including Belgians. “In Europe, we have a culture of non-discrimination, and we must maintain it,” said finance minister Jan Jambon on Sunday evening. “We have no lesson to receive”.
At the beginning of March, the Spanish daily El Pais Reported that the United States Embassy in Spain had asked its suppliers to certify that they did not apply any of I, under penalty of the freezing of their payments. In the United States, the targeting of DEI policies (diversity, equity, inclusion) in companies started at the start of Donald Trump’s mandate. A number of companies and organizations have already changed their Dei measures, including Walmart, Warner Bross, Paramount, Pepsi and dozens of others. The United States Federal Communications Commission also said that Walt Disney and its ABC unit were under investigation into their DEI reduction efforts, deemed too low.