America’s corporate titans oppose Trump travel ban
US CEOs call Trump’s immigrant plan un-American, bad for business
CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies are fighting back against President Donald Trump’s temporary immigration ban, calling it un-American and bad for business.
The heads of Apple, Ford and Goldman Sachs said that they don’t support the executive order the president signed last week, which bans immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. Google said it is donating cash to organisations that support immigrants. Other companies said they will help employees affected by the ban or, in the case of Starbucks, hire refugees.
Businesses already have a complicated relationship with Trump, who has been openly critical of companies planning to build plants in Mexico or charge what he sees as too much for fighter jets. Some have announced hiring plans and investments in the US, saying they like Trump’s plans to reduce regulation and lower corporate taxes.
But the corporate reaction to the executive order was strong, quick and harsh.
“This is unprecedented,” said Bill Klepper, an adjunct management professor at Columbia Business School in New York.
Trump said the executive order, signed Friday, was necessary to stop “radical Islamic terrorists” from coming to the US. It included a 90-day ban on travel to the US by citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen, and a 120-day suspension of the US refugee programme. The White House did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
It could be risky for businesses to speak out publicly, since Trump likes to fight back and criticise companies from his Twitter account, where the president forcefully defended his decision.
But public-relations experts said businesses have no choice, especially if the ban negatively affects their employees or customers.
“No company has gone out of business putting their customers and employees first,” said Matt Friedman, co-founder of Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Executives at technology companies, which employ many immigrants, were some of the first to speak out. Tim Cook, the CEO of iPhone giant Apple, told employees in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that his company does not support the order. “Apple would not exist without immigration,” Cook said.
CEOs from e-commerce companies Amazon.com, eBay and Etsy also said they did not support Trump’s order, as did the head of video-streaming company Netflix.
“Apple would not exist without immigration”
Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent said the soda maker was against the travel ban, and General Electric Co. CEO Jeff Immelt said the industrial conglomerate would make its “voice heard” with the new administration and Congress.
Ford Motor said it does not support the policy “or any other that goes against our values as a company,” according to a letter signed by the automaker’s CEO Mark Fields and Executive Chairman Bill Ford. But other automakers, including General Motors, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor were silent.
The auto industry, a frequent target of Trump’s ire for moving jobs overseas, is walking a fine line, trying to avoid punishing tariffs and hoping Trump gives them some relief on corporate taxes and fuel economy standards.
Goldman Sachs Group, whose former employees are some of Trump’s most trusted advisers, also pushed back.
“This is not a policy we support,” said the bank’s CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, in a voicemail to employees.
Google, the internet search company owned by Alphabet, plans to give as much as US$4 million to four organisations that provide legal assistance and other services to immigrants.
The crisis fund will consist of US$2 million from the company and US$2 million in employee donations. Google is worried that Trump’s executive order will harm many of its current workers and their families, and will make it more difficult to hire technically skilled workers from outside the US in the future.
Ride-hailing app Lyft said it will give US$1 million over the next four years to the American Civil Liberties Union. Lyft’s co-founders, Logan Green and John Zimmer, said they “will not be silent on issues that threaten the values of our community.”
Drugmaker Merck & Co. said it will offer legal advice and other assistance to its employees, as did furniture seller Ikea.
Uber, the ride-hailing app, said it will offer financial help to employees affected by the ban. The company’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, is part of Trump’s economic advisory group and said he will bring up the issue with the president on Friday in Washington.
Uber, however, already faced backlash on Saturday after Twitter users criticised the company and encouraged riders to delete the app for charging less than it could at JFK Airport in New York as taxi drivers had halted service for an hour to protest the ban. The move was perceived by some as an effort to profit off the protests as more passengers would need to seek alternatives to cabs.
Starbucks said it will hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years at its coffee shops around the world and focusing on employing those that have served with U.S. troops as interpreters. But taking a position on political matters can be risky for companies; the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks was trending on Twitter Monday after the company announced its move.
CEO Howard Schultz said he plans to reach out to employees more frequently.
“I am hearing the alarm you all are sounding that the civility and human rights we have all taken for granted for so long are under attack,” he said in a letter to workers.
