Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ The Trump Administration is seeking to force foreign companies worldwide to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes within their firms if they want to do business with the US government. It's an aggressive expansion of its anti-DEI crusade. ⬇️

2/ The Financial Times reports that the US State Department has sent a letter to EU companies ordering them to discontinue DEI programmes if they provide supplies or services to the US government. Although the FT only highlights the EU impact, the order is in effect worldwide.

3/ According to the French newspaper Les Echos, dozens of French companies have received a letter which says:

4/ "We inform you that Executive Order 14.173, concerning the end of illegal discrimination and restoring professional opportunities based on merit, signed by President Trump, also applies mandatorily to all suppliers and service providers of the American Government,…

5/ …regardless of their nationality or the country in which they operate".

The letter requires them to sign and return a "certification regarding compliance with applicable federal anti-discrimination law" (shown at the top of this thread).

6/ Companies must attest within five days that they "do not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion and agree that such certification is material for purposes of the government’s payment decision and therefore subject to the False Claims Act".

7/ The letter warns that "If you do not agree to sign this document, we would be grateful if you would provide us with detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal department."

8/ French business circles have expressed alarm. "When I heard about this letter, I initially thought it was a 'fake,'" one business figure says. "It's unbelievable; we're facing a kind of return of McCarthyism, but on a global scale," another comments.

9/ A French business figure says: "We risk being banned from bidding for federal government tenders." A senior Paris banker says: "It’s crazy . . . but everything is now possible. The rule of the strongest now prevails."

10/ The French government has rejected the demand, and legal experts say that its extraterritorial nature may make it unenforceable. Many French companies are reported to be planning to ignore the letter because of its likely unenforceability.

11/ The compliance certification form appears to have been issued in February 2025 in, among other places, France, Georgia, Liberia, Panama, Turkmenistan, the UK, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe, as it is referenced in contract offers issued by the US government worldwide.

12/ The requirement affects everything from aviation, defence, consulting, and infrastructure, to the provision of generators, carpet tiles, adhesive, air filters, insurance, vehicles, and likely every other service or item that the US government procures anywhere in the world.

13/ As such, the number of companies affected is likely to be huge. The SAM database, where entities must register to do business with the U.S. government, has over 700,000 active registrations, including both U.S. and non-U.S. entities.

14/ The database indicates that somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 non-U.S. companies are actively engaged with the U.S. government. Over 100 countries are represented in federal contract awards, including hundreds of companies from some individual countries. /end

Sources:
🔹 ft.com/content/02ed56…
🔹 lesechos.fr/industrie-serv…

Examples worldwide:
🔹 …torage.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/2024/12/24863/… (Georgia)
🔹 bidbanana.thebidlab.com/bid/cSJ5cMz7aK… (Liberia)
🔹 sam.gov/opp/9b1d8eb53c… (Panama)
🔹 rfprime.com/gov_b/ashgabat… (Turkmenistan)
🔹 uk.usembassy.gov/wp-content/upl… (UK)
🔹 stratvocate.com/grow/find-oppo… (UK)
🔹 govtribe.com/file/governmen… (Vietnam)
🔹 highergov.com/contract-oppor… (Zimbabwe)