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The Trump administration has sent a letter to certain large French companies warning them to comply with a decree prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The letter, sent by the Paris US Embassy, said Trump’s decree applied to businesses outside the United States if they were suppliers or providers of US government, according to a person familiar with the issue.
The embassy also sent a questionnaire that ordered companies to attest to their compliance. The document, which the Financial Times has seen, is entitled “Certification concerning compliance with the applicable anti-discrimination law”.
The document indicates that “the entrepreneurs of the State Department must certify that they do not manage any program promoting the Dei which violates the applicable anti-discrimination laws and agree that this certification is important for the government’s payment decision and therefore subject to the law on false complaints.”
Documents seem to point out that the Trump administration is expanding its campaign against Dei to foreign companies after launching a repression against American media groups such as Disney.
A main banker in Paris said he was shocked by the letter. “It’s crazy … But everything is now possible. The strongest rule prevails now.”
The French Ministry of Finance expressed its concerns after some of the companies involved informed him of this decision.
“This practice reflects the values of the new American government. They are not the same as ours,” said a person close to the French Minister of the Economy, Eric Lombard. “The ministry will recall its counterparts in the United States government.”
The existence of the letter was reported for the first time by the newspapers Les Echos.
The extraterritorial decision by the United States comes in the midst of an increase in tensions between the Trump administration and Europe in relation to economic and security policy while the nation moves away from its traditional allies, in particular on trade and large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Trump This week imposed an additional 25% levy on imports from the automotive sector in the United States and increased tariffs on European steel and aluminum imports. The EU works on reciprocal prices in response, but has not yet decided which products are targeting.
The attitude of Trump officials to Europe was launched in relief this week when messages on American attacks in Yemen have been disclosed to the American media. “I just hate to jump Europe again,” wrote Vice-President JD Vance in a group of sign cats. “It’s pathetic,” replied the defense secretary Pete Hegseth.
France has not traditionally been a place where the DEI programs took root due to legal limitations on the collection of racial and ethnic data. Employers are not allowed to take into account the origins of people in job or promotion decisions.
But French companies potentially exposed to American requests include aviation and defense groups, consulting providers and infrastructure companies. The FT could not immediately determine which companies had received the letter.
According to the echoes, the letter concluded: “If you do not agree to sign this document, we will be grateful if you could provide us with detailed reasons, which we will send to our legal service.”
