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The State Department is seeking to ease concerns abroad after the U.S. Embassy in Paris sparked outrage by sending letters to French companies asking them to certify their compliance with President Donald Trump's effort to curb programs for diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI.
The request that companies doing business with the State Department renounce DEI, first published in French newspaper Le Figaro and confirmed by French and U.S. officials, also went out to companies in Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Spain at minimum, according to local officials and media reports. But it sparked the sharpest response in France.
"This practice reflects the values of the new American administration. They are not ours," said the office of Economy and Finance Minister Eric Lombard in a statement. "The Minister will reaffirm this to his counterparts within the U.S. Government."
Aurore Bergé, France's minister for gender equality and the fight against discrimination, called the letter an "attempt to impose a diktat" and "a form, obviously, of interference." French laws, she said, are "above any ultimatums" from the embassy. Europe is not a continent to be sold "piecemeal," she said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Paris declined to comment on the letter. Embassy spokesman Francisco Perez told French newspaper Libération that the letter was sent to all companies that provide the embassy with services and products, reaching "several dozen" companies. "This applies worldwide, even if not all embassies send it at the same time," he said.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters Monday that the companies in question were being asked to "self certify" their acquiescence, in an effort to comply with a Trump executive order to curb DEI policies in companies dealing with the government.
A State Department statement Tuesday said international vendors were being asked to comply only with "applicable" legal requirements, which for most foreign companies operating abroad would require nothing and amount to little more than "one additional piece of paperwork."
The State Department said it was reviewing all contracts and grants with U.S. embassies.
The letters appeared to extend well beyond France, although the State Department and U.S. embassies in Europe did not respond to requests for comment about which companies had received them.
Pierre Steverlynck, a spokesman for Belgium's foreign ministry, said in an email Wednesday that Belgian companies that supply the U.S. Embassy in Brussels had been "similarly approached" to respond to a document "consistent" with the letter circulated in France. "It is our understanding that most - if not all - suppliers of the Embassy would be in the same position," Steverlynck said.
Belgium's deputy prime minister, Maxime Prévot, said in a statement Monday that Belgium was alarmed at the requests. "It is downright regrettable that the U.S., a country whose administration was once at the forefront of defending shared values such as diversity, is now taking a step backwards," he said. Belgium "will not budge one millimetre."
Danish Industry Minister Morten Bodskov told AFP Wednesday that European countries should coordinate on a response.
"We inform you that Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunities, signed by President Trump, applies to all suppliers and service providers of the U.S. Government, regardless of their nationality and the country in which they operate," read the letter published by Le Figaro, which was written in both French and English.
Attached was a "certification form for compliance" with the U.S. federal antidiscrimination law, including a place to affirm that the companies in question "do not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion" that violate the laws. The letter requests a response within five days but does not set out a specific penalty for refusal.
The letter was signed by Stanislas Parmentier, a contracting officer at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
Le Figaro had reported last month that at least two European telecommunications companies that supplied American embassies had been threatened with the termination of their contracts if they didn't eliminate DEI policies.
Alcatel-Lucent, a French telecom company with a section of its website devoted to its business with the U.S. Department of Defense, also lists DEI measures on the site, described as such. The company did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
France, analysts pointed out Tuesday, is an unlikely battlefield for a clash with Trump over DEI. Most affirmative action policies, especially those addressing race, are restricted. Even collecting data on race and ethnicity is not permitted in the country.
Maxime Cervulle, professor of communication studies at University of Paris 8, said the letters show a "profound misunderstanding" of the French landscape on this issue. France does not recognize race as a legitimate category for public action, she said, although some measures are permitted around inclusion of women and people with disabilities.
France sees itself as an officially "color-blind" country that instead rests on the core principle of universalism, said Marie des Neiges LĂ©onard, a sociologist at the University of South Alabama. The U.S. debate does not map directly into a French context, she said.
But DEI has no set parameters and can refer to almost any effort to foster fair treatment and equal participation. For the U.S. right, the acronym has come to stand for a perceived liberal assault on merit - criticism many liberals dismiss.