New US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order suspending a law that prohibits American companies from paying bribes to foreign governments.
The decision, enacted Monday, also freezes criminal proceedings against Americans accused of violating the law, which has been in effect since 1977.
The Republican defended the decision, saying it would bring "a lot more business to the United States," he told reporters in the Oval Office of the United States Presidency.
The president also plans to instruct Attorney General Pam Bondi to review current and past actions related to this law while preparing new guidelines for its implementation, according to a document cited by US media.
In the document, the government argues that the national security of the United States depends on the country and American companies obtaining "strategic commercial advantages around the world."
Trump is "stopping excessive and unpredictable enforcement that makes American companies less competitive," the presidency said.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) generally prohibits corrupt payments to foreign officials in exchange for obtaining or retaining business.
Congress, the United States parliament, enacted the FCPA in response to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the financial market regulator, following the Watergate scandal, which led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon (1969-1974).
The investigation revealed that U.S. companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars bribing foreign officials to secure business overseas, the Congressional Research Service said.
