Will France & Belgium Hold Firm against Trump’s DEI Demands?
US President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing back on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
These efforts have now gone beyond US borders, with letters sent to companies in France and the EU that hold US government contracts.
The document warns companies to comply with executive order 14.173 that bans DEI programmes to avoid losing contracts.
The letter, first reported by Les Echos on 28 March, says that “Department of State contractors must certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable anti-discrimination laws and agree that such certification is material for purposes of the government’s payment decision and therefore subject to the False Claims Act.”
Respondents were asked to sign a form for compliance with the US anti-discrimination law within five days.
“If you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate it if you could provide detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal teams,” reads the letter signed by Stanislas Parmentier, General Services Officer at the US embassy in Paris.
European government officials and business representatives have expressed their dissatisfaction with the demands.
“We have no lessons to learn from the boss of America.”
What is the executive order banning DEI?
President Trump signed two executive orders after his 2025 inauguration aimed at stopping DEI programmes in both the US government and its contractors.
Executive order 14.173, titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”, revokes a variety of laws that promoted diversity and inclusion within the government.
It also orders a plan to be made to deter large organisations from having DEI programmes “that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences”.
“Roughly 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical and influential institutions of American society… have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation,” the order reads.
European responses to US DEI demands
“It is out of the question that we will prevent our business from promoting additional social progress [and] social rights,” said Aurore Bergé, French Minister for Gender Equality, in an interview with BFMTV on 30 March.
“Thankfully, a lot of French companies don’t plan to change their policies.”
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon told RTL-TVi: “We have a culture of non-discrimination in Europe and we must continue that.
“We have no lessons to learn from the boss of America.”
In a statement on 29 March, France’s trade ministry said: “American interference in the inclusion policies of French companies, as well as unjustified threats of tariffs, are unacceptable.”
Laurent Saint-Martin, France’s Minister for Foreign Trade, told RTL Radio on 31 March “We can’t just cancel the application of our own laws overnight.”
He said he was “deeply shocked” by the demands.
“This practice reflects the values of the new American government. They are not ours,” says a statement from the office of French Economy Minister Eric Lombard, saying he will raise the issue with his US counterparts.
“We can’t bend, we have values, rules, we have to respect them,” Patrick Martin, President of France’s largest employer federation MEDEF, told LCI on 30 March.
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