The administration of Donald Trump is looking for some changes in the law. The supposed change would ban American companies to bring foreign officials in exchange for business. The White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow informed in a press conference that the Trump administration was seeking a change in the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). He said, “I would just say, we are aware of it, we are looking at it, and we’ve heard complaints from some of our companies. I don’t want to say anything definitive policy-wise, but we are looking at it”. CNBC reported that Kudlow didn’t mention the supposed changes and informed reporters to wait until getting a better package.
Activities were prompted surrounding the state of the FCPA after the Washington Post announced excerpts from an upcoming book. The reporters of the Washington Post, Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig are authors of the book, A Very Stable Genius. Both writers have mentioned that Trump expressed his unhappiness at the FCPA and called it Unfair. It is noteworthy that the FCPA was established in 1977 and describes it is unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.
The U.S President reportedly informed the former secretary of state Rex Tillerson in 2017 and said, “It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas. We’re going to change that”. He informed Tillerson to get rid of that law, but Tillerson said it would be almost impossible to bring it to Congress. President Trump then instructed a senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller to draft an executive action to repeal the FCPA. Trump also described CNBC in 2012 that it is a horrible law and the world is laughing at us for obeying it. The New York Magazine also said Republicans have argued Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine and start an investigation against Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.