He awaits explanations. This Monday morning, the French Minister of Foreign Trade, Laurent Saint-Martin, said he was “deeply shocked” of the letter sent by the American Embassy to French companies and called for “not to compare” on the law and the “French values”. Affirming on RTL that the government would have “a discussion with the United States Embassy”, he said he wished to “understand what is really the intention behind” this initiative.
Several French companies have received in recent days a letter and a questionnaire from the United States Embassy asking them if they set up internal programs to combat discrimination. The missive warns them that, if necessary, this could prevent them from working with the American state.
“Our French values”
For Laurent Saint-Martin, this letter amounts to asking companies “to give up inclusion policies which are simply French and European law, in particular on equality between women and men in the fight against discrimination, against racism, the promotion of diversity to help people with disabilities”.
“All of this are advances that first correspond to our French values. We are proud of it and we do not want to compromise on this, “hammered the minister, for whom this request from the United States” would be one more step in American extraterritoriality, but this time on the field of values ”.
For his part, the French Minister of the Economy, Éric Lombard, said on Monday that the legal value of the mail of the United States Embassy was “uncertain”, and assured that his services were looking at the issue. “Know that we take it very seriously and we will support companies in these debates,” insisted the minister.
Since his return to the White House, President Trump has embarked on a vast reform of the federal government, tracing public spending deemed to waste or contrary to his policy, such as programs supporting diversity or inclusion.