美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Used To Disparage An Anti-Bribery Law; Will He Enforce It Now?

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In many parts of the world, paying bribes 1 is a regular part of doing business. Here in the United States, Congress passed a law cracking down on bribery 2 decades ago. But President Trump 3 says the law puts U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage. And as NPR's Jim Zarroli reports, a recent study raises questions about how his administration is enforcing the law.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE 4: In the 1970s, U.S. corporate 5 bribery was a huge scandal. More than 400 corporations admitted they'd made questionable 6 or illegal payoffs to gain business, including major companies such as Chiquita and Lockheed. Meredith McGehee is with the Campaign Legal Center.

MEREDITH MCGEHEE: What was happening was that many companies were making routine bribes to the heads of governments and others in countries just to simply buy the business.

ZARROLI: So in 1977, Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt 7 Practices Act or FCPA, which made paying bribes illegal even if it was done in another country. The law has always had its critics. They say if U.S. companies are barred from paying bribes in places where doing so is routine, then they can't compete. And among the critics has been President Trump. Here he was in a 2012 interview on CNBC.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Now every other country goes into these places, and they do what they have to do. It's a horrible law, and it should be changed. I mean, we're like the policemen for the world. It's ridiculous.

ZARROLI: Fast forward to today, and Trump administration officials, such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, say they're committed to enforcing the law.

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JEFF SESSIONS: I think that's a law that's on the books that should be enforced. And I expect it will do so and continue to do so.

ZARROLI: But Sessions hedged his comments a bit adding...

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SESSIONS: You simply can't have a situation in which your competitors are - pay bribes, and you don't.

ZARROLI: That's a point that's been made by other U.S. officials, including some Democrats 8. So a lot of people in the white-collar law community are watching to see how the administration enforces the law. A recent article in The New York Law Journal said there's been a decline in bribery enforcement proceedings 9 this year by the government. Attorney Steven Witzel co-wrote the article.

STEVEN WITZEL: In general terms, there's been a dramatic drop off from the average over the previous 10 years to what we're seeing in the Trump administration.

ZARROLI: Witzel cautions that nine months into the administration is probably too early to get a sense of what its record will be. There may be good reasons for the decline having to do with the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations.

One former Justice Department lawyer says he's seen no sign the government is any less committed to the law. And the department has continued with major enforcement actions initiated 10 under Obama. A Swedish company that does business in the U.S. recently paid a fine of nearly a billion dollars for paying bribes in Uzbekistan. But Witzel says it's important to monitor the way the law is enforced.

WITZEL: If there is a continued sharp decline in FCPA enforcement proceedings, that has the potential to undermine the credibility of the United States' commitment to combating international corruption 11.

ZARROLI: When the bribery law was passed, it was something of an outlier internationally. Today many countries no longer treat bribery as a necessary evil and often work with U.S. officials to pursue violators. President Trump may not love the law, but there's evidence it's made a difference in the effort to fight global corruption. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

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