Trump’s Transatlantic Influence: DEI and Corporate Compliance

French companies shocked to receive letters from the U.S. embassy in Paris, demanding they follow Trump administration’s ‘Anti-DEI’ policy for securing U.S. government contracts. 

In the beginning: 

Before Donald J. Trump’s inauguration on the 20th of January, he clearly expressed his displeasure for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion framework (DEI). The DEI has sought to promote fair treatment and representation of groups that have been historically underrepresented or subject to discrimination. 

But, this promotion had hit a firm blockade when in President Trump’s first week in office, he signed executive order 15141, described as "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing". With this move, Trump decisively ended the internal struggle over DEI within his administration. This ultimately dismantled DEI regulations on U.S. soil–until now. 

Across the Atlantic: 

Trump’s relentless push to eliminate DEI policies has now reached Paris. French companies received anonymous letters originating from the U.S. embassy, stating: "We inform you that Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunities, signed by President Trump, applies to all suppliers and service providers of the U.S. Government, regardless of their nationality and the country in which they operate," according to a copy that French newspaper Le Figaro published on its website. Asserting how French and other European companies are obligated to follow Trump’s “America First” policies if they want to operate in the U.S. 

Sent to around a dozen French companies the “US interference in French companies’ inclusion policies” continues to be “unacceptable” said the ministry. This attempt to impose U.S. policies on foreign businesses has not gone unnoticed as "France and Europe will defend their businesses, their consumers, and also their values," the ministry added.  

All companies that received the letter on the 28th of March, have been clearly informed by embassy employees, who asked respondents to sign "within five days (...) a form for compliance with the US anti-discrimination law." 

Looking at the selected companies, there was no indication that the recipients were selected based on their presence in the U.S. A strange example of this request was to France’s state-owned telecoms group Orange, which has no U.S. presence, but was a recipient of the letter. 

Meanwhile, defence electronics firm Thales and energy giant TotalEnergies, both with significant operations in the U.S., did not receive it.  

A second conflict: 

Introducing these new policies, or should I say eradicating them, carry a secondary conflict with French laws that were already implemented long before the January 20th orders. Despite the cost to many French companies, “It is out of the question that we will prevent our business from promoting additional social progress [and] social rights,” said French Minister for Gender Equality Aurore Bergé in an interview with BFMTV Sunday. “Thankfully, a lot of French companies don’t plan to change their policies.” 

These policies talked about reference to France's law that bans the consideration of origin, ethnic group or religion in the hiring practices. It also bans the collection of ‘race-based data’. ‘It's part of the state's "color-blind" approach to secularism (called laicité in French), which holds that all French are equally French,’ according to DW.  

Rather, French corporate efforts to diversify the workforce focus more on gender and socioeconomic backgrounds. For instance, France legally requires that companies with over 250 employees must have at least 40% women on their board. This has allowed France to become a global leader in women’s working environment and has the second highest proportion of women on their board, after Iceland. 

These efforts by companies and the French government to achieve this laicité, will be dismantled by the Anti-DEI requests if they are followed– where the fruition of Anti-DEI policies would mean an infringement of the French law, leaving little room to accommodate both. 

Although these forceful policies can be frightening, it is unlikely that it will affect our daily lives. These companies may choose to accept or deny these new requests, but either way they will continue to exist and function. However, it is clear that the introduction of these policies will have a large impact in the inclusion of certain groups of people, which is ethically debatable, and directly against the laicité approach.  

With France being challenged only two months into President Trump's administration, it is almost certain that other European and possibly Asian countries could have the same policies imposed on them. This show of force is a clear measure of Trump shadowing nations with his symbolism of power. This sudden shift in the U.S.’s thoughts of other countries, such as France, are perfectly explained by a quote from Henry Kissinger: “It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal.”. 

Written by: Mattias Burnier 

Citations: 

AFP. “Most Affirmative Action Policies Are Illegal in France, but US Warns French Companies against Using DEI Policies.” Fortune, 29 Mar. 2025, fortune.com/2025/03/29/us-warning-french-companies-dei-policies-france-affirmative-action/. 

Arnaud Leparmentier. “French Companies Shocked by US Embassy Letter Demanding They Respect Trump’s Anti-Diversity Policy.” Le Monde.fr, Le Monde, 29 Mar. 2025, www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/03/29/french-companies-shocked-by-letter-from-us-embassy-in-paris-demanding-they-respect-trump-s-anti-diversity-policy_6739640_19.html#. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025. 

Hairsine, Kate. “France Slams US ‘Interference’ in Firms’ Diversity Programs.” Dw.com, Deutsche Welle, 30 Mar. 2025, www.dw.com/en/france-slams-us-interference-in-firms-diversity-programs/a-72085616. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025. 

Leali, Giorgio, et al. “France, Belgium Scoff at Anti-DEI Letter from Trump Administration.” POLITICO, 30 Mar. 2025, www.politico.eu/article/france-belgium-scoff-at-anti-dei-policy-letter-from-donald-trump-administration/. 

Mathieu Rosemain, and John Irish. “US Warns French Companies They Must Comply with Trump’s Diversity Ban.” Reuters, 29 Mar. 2025, www.reuters.com/world/us-warns-french-companies-they-must-comply-with-trumps-diversity-ban-2025-03-29/.