France's foreign trade minister, Laurent Saint-Martin, said on Monday he was "deeply shocked" by calls by the US Embassy in Paris for a number of French companies to drop their diversity programs in line with US President Donald Trump's domestic policy.

"We are going to have a discussion with the United States embassy in France about this because we need to understand what the real intention behind this letter is," Saint-Martin told broadcaster RTL

This comes after the French Economy Ministry reported that "a few dozen" French companies doing or looking to do business with the US have received letters with a questionnaire asking them to certify that they "do not practice programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion" or DEI.

DEI programs aim to provide opportunities for people of color, women and other historically excluded groups but have been vigorously targeted by Trump and his acolytes as being discriminatory and opposed to a purely merit-based system.  

This view is vehemently rejected by many experts, who say DEI initiatives do nothing more than attempt to remedy many wrongs committed against certain social groups and minorities that have unjustly been kept from realizing their full potential.

France 'unwilling' to walk back inclusion policies

Saint-Martin echoed earlier comments by the Economy Ministry, saying that the demand made in the letter was tantamount to calling on companies "to renounce the inclusion policies" enshrined in French or European law, "particularly on equality between women and men in the fight against discrimination and racism, and the promotion of diversity to help people with disabilities."

"All of this is progress that corresponds first and foremost to our French values," he said, saying it was something France was proud of and unwilling to compromise on.

"We can't just cancel the application of our own laws overnight," he said, adding that the request was "a further step in American extra-territoriality, this time in the field of values."

On Sunday, Patrick Martin, the head of French employers' federation Medef, said renouncing the rules of inclusion in French companies was "out of the question."

Forceful demand for compliance on US DEI policy

French daily newspaper Le Figaro published what it said was a copy of the letter, which stated that an executive order that Trump signed in January terminating DEI programs within the federal government also "applies to all suppliers and service providers of the US Government, regardless of their nationality".

The letter asked recipients to complete and sign a separate form certifying that they would comply with the demand.

Trump's executive order demanded that all the government's DEI programs be shut down by January 23, with all employees put on administrative leave pending eventual dismissal.

This has triggered a number of lawsuits that have yet to be finally decided for or against.

However, references to women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community have been deleted from websites and other federal government materials, while organizations that had DEI programs in place, including hospitals and universities, have come under intense scrutiny.

Edited by: Zac Crellin