Grease the Wheel: Trump Plans to Make it Legal for Businesses to Bribe Foreign Officials

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Bloomberg reports that Donald Trump will soon sign an executive order to pause the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, claiming that it hurts American businesses.

The FCPA, passed in 1977, specifically prohibits any person or company tied to the United States from paying money or offering gifts to foreign officials to help their business. In 1998, the law was amended to include foreign businesses, as well as people who facilitated such bribes in the U.S. The DOJ said there were 24 cases related to alleged violations of the law in 2024, and 17 in 2023.

Trump may benefit personally from weakening or discarding the FCPA. The Trump Organization recently announced that it will no longer prohibit deals with foreign companies while he is president, and he might seek to “grease the wheels” on overseas deals without any restrictions.  

It looks like Trump is opening the doors for American companies and individuals, including himself, to pay off foreign officials to better line their pockets.

Thought you'd like to read a blog post from October, 2020 with the headline:  Don't Ever, Ever, Ever Bribe  Foreign Officials to Obtain Lucrative Business Contracts.

My, have times changed.  And to think it's A-OK for the US to accept a luxury jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One for Trump without any strings attached.

from The Global Small Business Blog https://ift.tt/3NHpCtL