Washington DC - On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The order directs the Department of Justice and Attorney General Pam Bondi to halt the enforcement of a law prohibiting US companies from bribing foreign government officials to win business.

In a video of him signing the order, Trump says of the FCPA, "It sounds good, but it hurts the country."

In a press release, the White House argues the act has been "systematically, and to a steadily increasing degree, stretched beyond proper bounds and abused in a manner that harms the interests of the United States."

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"Overexpansive and unpredictable FCPA enforcement against American citizens and businesses – by our own Government – for routine business practices in other nations not only wastes limited prosecutorial resources that could be dedicated to preserving American freedoms, but actively harms American economic competitiveness and, therefore, national security," the release adds.

For the next 180 days, Bondi will be tasked with reviewing all current FCPA investigations and then issuing new guidelines for enforcement. She will then decide whether to extend the pause, or end it.

According to CNBC, the FCPA became law in 1977, and was amended in 1998. Violators can face up to 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or pay three times the alleged bribe.