Trump freezes the bribery law that struck Tesla suppliers

Acts to combat bribery, which is the head of its enforcement Donald Trump He has hanging It was previously used before Ministry of Justice Financial organizers to win settlements totaling more than $ 1.5 billion from major suppliers TimingThe giant of the electric vehicles run by Trump ally Elon Musk.

And Trump in his executive to request On Monday, the Law, which prohibits a bribe from foreign officials.

Tesla and other electric car companies depend on critical minerals, most of which are from sources abroad, to make batteries.

Critical minerals and deep water outlets were the only two specific features mentioned in the name, entitled “Stop temporarily Foreign corrupt practices law The implementation of American economic and national security. “

CNBC asked the White House, Tesla and Musk if the technical billionaire played any role in pressure for the system or to include the language around the critical minerals in the guidance. The White House refused to comment. Tesla did not respond to you.

In his first month in office, Trump also signed executive orders and changes in policy that could negatively affect Tesla by slowing the EVS accreditation in the United States, according to what he said. Research Company Wood McKinsey.

In a profit call in January, Tesla Cfo Vaibhav Taneja warned contributors that Trump’s tariff might harm the company’s profitability.

However, the MUSK strength and its impact inside the White House Trump has no precedent in modern politics.

Musk, the richest person in the world, spent nearly $ 300 million to help Trump win the 2024 presidential elections.

Only a few net value for Musk was about $ 400 billion. But it was sufficient to enhance his place as the most prominent supporter of Trump and a consultant.

Musk is now working in the White House, as it oversees a widespread and controversial effort known as the Ministry of Governmental efficiency-which is called Doge- to reduce spending on the federal government, the number of employees, regulations and agencies.

In addition to being the CEO of Tesla and Chief Doge, Musk controls many other companies, including a Spacex defense contractor, x social media platform, chatbot, Xai artificial intelligence developer XAI, Tunneling Venture The Poring Company, and Neurotech Startup Neuralink.

the Foreign corrupt practices law From 1977 it makes a crime for companies and individuals working in the United States to bribe foreign government officials to obtain or preserve the advantages of work.

FCPA has long been a golden standard for anti -corruption laws, and versions have been adopted by countries worldwide.

But on Monday, Trump said that FCPA was “systematically” … it extended beyond the appropriate borders and abandoned in a way that harms the interest of the United States. “

Trump, Prosecutor Pam Bondi, ordered to stop, for a period of 180 days, to start any new investigations in FCPA or enforcement procedures unless it was decided to make an exception.

Bondi also ordered a review of “all current FCPA investigations or enforcement measures and taking appropriate measures … to restore the appropriate borders on the FCPA application.”

After that, in a very unusual step, Bondi requests to review previous cases under previous departments, to determine whether any FCPA enforcement procedures are “inappropriate”.

If Bondi finds that, it says, “treatment measures” must be taken to compensate for the parties accused of violations.

Among these pre -application procedures, Bondi has been appointed for review, there are at least four cases that include Tesla suppliers or their subsidiaries.

None of these cases remembers the behavior directly related to Tasla.

But combined, it reveals the important role that FCPA plays in organizing commercial practices in the critical metal mining sector.

In May 2022, two parts of the multinational trading and mining company Glencore He admitted that he is guilty and agreed to pay more than one $ 1.1 billion To solve investigations by the Ministry of Justice and The Justice Contracts Trading Committee From their violations from FCPA.

At that time, the Ministry of Justice said that the FCPA fees are related to the Decadelong scheme by Glencore and the subsidiary companies “to hide payments and corrupt bribes through brokers for foreign officials in multiple countries.”

Glencore is a major supplier of cobalt, and it is a metal used to make lithium -ion batteries.

Tesla has provided cobalt sources for Glencore batteries. In 2021, Tesla discussed the purchase of a stake in Glencore, Wall Street Magazine I mentioned.

As part of guilt in May 2022, Glencore agreed to retain the monitoring of independent compliance for a period of three years. ”The Ministry of Justice noted at that time.

In March 2023, Rio Tinto has paid a relatively small fine of $ 15 million to FCPA fees by Securities and Stock Exchange Committee The result of the payments brought into a consultant in Guinea.

Tesla He agreed to buy 75,000 metric tons of nickel From the Rio Tinto joint mining project in the upper Middle West.

Six months after the Rio Tinto settlement, the specialized chemical company in North Carolina Albimarel – The largest producer of Lithium In the world – he agreed to pay more than $ 218 million to resolve investigations by the Ministry of Justice second.

In this case, FCPA violations It was linked to the participation of Albimarel in plans to pay bribes to government officials in multiple foreign countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia and India.

The agreement of dissatisfaction for a period of three years relates to that settlement with the Ministry of Justice is valid for Albarmar, which provides Lithium to Tesla.

In 2018, Panasonic Avionics Corp. , Department of the United States Panasonic CompanyHe agreed to pay a criminal penalty more than $ 137 million to resolve the charges of violating the accounting provisions from FCPA.

In related measures, Panasonic agreed to pay about 143 million dollars as a dispute to the Supreme Education Council after the agency submitted a stop and a stop.

The Supreme Education Council said that the Panasonic flight electronics “offered a profitable consultant website for a government -owned government official to urge the official to help PAC to obtain business and keep it from the airline.”

The Securities and Stock Exchange said: “While it organized the bribery system, PAC was negotiating two agreements with the airline, whose value is estimated at more than 700 million dollars,” said Securities and the Stock Exchange.

Panasonic Corp manufactures Tesla batteries, and the two companies share a factory in Nevada.