Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing the US justice department to halt prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials to win business.

The order instructs the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to pause prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 until she issues revised enforcement guidance that promotes American competitiveness.

“Future FCPA investigations and enforcement actions will be governed by this new guidance and must be approved by the attorney general,” the document said.

According to the White House, the law puts US firms at a disadvantage to foreign competitors because they cannot engage in practices that are “common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field”.

“American national security depends on America and its companies gaining strategic commercial advantages around the world, and President Trump is stopping excessive, unpredictable FCPA enforcement that makes American companies less competitive,” according to a copy of a White House factsheet seen by Reuters.

The anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said the FCPA made the United States a leader in addressing global corruption.

Trump’s executive order “diminishes – and could pave the way for completely eliminating – the crown jewel in the US’s fight against global corruption”, Gary Kalman, executive director of Transparency International US, said in a statement.

The anti-bribery law has been responsible for some of the justice department’s largest corporate cases over the last decade, including fining the investment bank Goldman Sachs for the alleged looting of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Trump signed the order in the Oval Office in front of reporters. “It’s going to mean a lot more business for America,” he said.

In 2024, the justice department and the Securities and Exchange Commission filed 26 FCPA-related enforcement actions, and at least 31 companies were under investigation by year end, the White House factsheet said.

The president also said he was issuing a pardon for the former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, whose 14-year sentence for political corruption charges he commuted during his first term.

Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 for attempting to sell Barack Obama’s US Senate seat and other corrupt acts.

Blagojevich, who appeared on Trump’s reality TV show The Celebrity Apprentice, served eight years in prison before Trump cut short his term in 2020.

Reuters contributed to this report