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.