4 months Ago
The order, which he signed in one of his first days back in office in January, limits the use of diversity training in companies with federal contracts.
U.S. Sanction Affects US Firms' Overseas Dutchcoms
The new rules prohibit contractors from using certain approaches, including gender quotas or recruiting targets tied to race or ethnic identity. As a consequence, Dutch companies with business in the US, or holding public-sector contracts there, have already begun changing their behaviour to fall into line with the new rules.
Engineering company Arcadis and semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML are among the first companies to step up to this call. ASML adjusted its diversity targets for US operations in response to the order, according to the annual review prepared by the institutional investors group Eumedion.
The company said that although such inclusion-based performance targets are no longer in place for U.S. workers, its broader global policy has not altered, and it remains supportive of inclusive objectives.
Arcadis, which won a large infrastructure project in Louisiana this spring, eliminated a gender diversity metric that had accounted for 20 percent of executive bonuses. The target was substituted by a financial target, as described in Eumedion’s memorandum.
Wider Industry Response and Ongoing Commitments
And the insurer Aegon also set a diversity-linked bonus target for its chief executive. Yet the company said the change was not directly tied to the US policy shift. Instead, it was in spite of remarkable progress in female representation at the senior level — from 29% five years ago, to 39%.
Eumedion noted that in the legal environment of the United States, a company is constrained in formulating clear diversity objectives. Nonetheless, it said that it would continue to advocate for inclusive workplaces, equal pay, and fair opportunity at every level.
US paradox In contrast to the trends in the US, Eumedion observed in 2025 that gender and cultural diversity on the boards of Dutch AEX and AMX-listed companies increased further on average this year.
The group stressed that diversity is still an important principle in Dutch company law, and that this is not compromised by the outside pressure.
