Trump presses foreign companies against diversity programs
The French newspaper Les Echos, which first reported the measure on Friday night, said order had been sent to companies by the US embassy in Paris.
A embassy spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There is no indication that the companies receiving the letter have been selected based on their presence in the US. A source close to the subject confirmed that the French state -controlled Orange Telecommunications group, which has no presence in the US, received the letter.
Meanwhile, the defense electronics company Thales and the Totalenergies oil giant, both with US operations, did not receive the notification, according to the companies’ spokesmen. Orange declined to comment.
An authority close to France’s Finance Minister Eric Lombard said the matter will be dealt with with the US government.
“This practice reflects the values of the new US government. They are not the same as ours. The minister will remember his peers in the US government about it,” the authority said.
