(February 12 | Washington, D.C.) – On February 10, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), citing interests in “American economic competitiveness” and “national security.” The E.O. states that the FCPA “has been systematically and to a steadily increasing degree, stretched beyond proper bounds and abused…” The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) strongly condemns this action.

Pausing FCPA enforcement and criticising the aims of the law constitutes an alarming attack on a long-standing U.S. government commitment to ensure that U.S. companies do not engage in acts of bribery and corruption around the world. That commitment has reflected nearly 50 years of bipartisan consensus that corruption damages the reputation of the United States, weakens our national security, and undermines the economic growth of our trading partners (which ultimately benefits the U.S. and U.S. companies) when American businesses bribe foreign officials and make foreign governments more corrupt. Enacted in 1977, the FCPA prohibits bribery and corruption in U.S. business practices here and abroad and triggered sweeping changes worldwide in combatting norms around corruption and bribery.

The FCPA is a model for efficient good governance, operating as a strong deterrent against corrupt business and financing its own enforcement through significant fines levied against violators.

Masquerading as a protection for American businesses, the attack on the FCPA is a move that puts American companies that engage in ethical business practices at a disadvantage. This move by the Trump administration only weakens economic competitiveness and puts American businesses at the mercy of foreign government officials to give economic preferences based on bribes rather than engaging in fair play. The move today serves as an open invitation for corrupt foreign governments to extract bribes from U.S. businesses operating abroad. ICAR calls for this action to be reversed.