US tells European companies to comply with Donald Trump's anti-diversity order | Hacker News Reader

US tells European companies to comply with Donald Trump's anti-diversity order

ft.com

16 pointsdoener8 comments

Can someone help me understand...I thought executive orders only had power to manage the executive branch of the US Government. They aren't edicts. Even US companies don't have to follow them, right?

There was executive order that no federal institution can hire layers from a company that sued Teump. And no federal institution can hire a company that do business with the hated law company either. And he removed their security clearance.

So, that is it works. By threat and ability to destroy you, legally or not. Same as everything else - if you have power to harm and no stops, you can blackmail.

I assume that there is the threat of targetted tariffs and cancelled government contracts to "encourage" European companies to comply.

I haven't read the executive orders but I also assume that they contain more details.

This is about european subcontractors of US companies that have federal contracts. Any european company that does not get money from the US government is not affected.

I know there are a lot of Trump fans on this platform. Way more, or way more vocal, than during his first term.

How do they defend this clear abuse of power? Do they really think this policy is so bad it’s worth threatening foreign companies over? Why is this so important?

Is this what you voted for?

I won’t go on about the other news in the past 100 days, I just hope someone can explain this one to me.

It's American exceptionalism at its best. They believe America is subsidizing the world when, in fact, it is the other way around. The world is subsidizing the American lifestyle.

That's why you see China jumping onto the global stage and following exactly the same playbook that the USA did after World War II—building connections and trading partners, investing in other countries, and subsidizing them because they see it as a long-term investment that will benefit China far more in the future than what they invest now.

I know they see every dollar leaving the US as a robbery nowadays so maybe this is their way of ending contracts with foreign companies? Is this what it is about?

Probably. They deny the fact that international commerce is mutually dependent. They think the world strictly depends on them and that companies would not be profitable if they sold products elsewhere. Sure, they will earn less money, but they will still be profitable, and the lifestyle around the world will improve because all the good products that were meant to go to the US will now be available in other countries.

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