News Write-Up: Immigration Order Complicates U.S. Businesses’ Plans in the Middle East
Description of Event
One of the first actions by President Trump, after assuming office, is the signing of an executive order that places a 90-day ban on immigration by citizens from seven nations i.e. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan (Krauss, 2017). The ban has been met with a lot of criticism by private citizens and leaders drawn from different sectors. American business leaders and executives have openly expressed their opposition terming the ban to be retrogressive and will water down the efforts made by American businesses in regards to international business (Krauss, 2017). The ban has also been criticized for targeting Muslims as the countries in the ban are dominantly Islamic nations. President Trump’s administration has however come out to support the order, as highly recommended, at a time when the United States was grappling with national security and terror threats (Krauss, 2017). American companies such as Boeing, General Electric Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Halliburton, with interests in the region have started tallying their losses and are looking for ways how they can work around the ban (Krauss, 2017). Most executives are worried that these countries will retaliate thus hurting their businesses even further.
This event is a matter of international relations, a precursor of international business. For international business to exist, there have to be cordial relations between the two nations doing business together. Sanctions and bans are usually an impediment to international business (Krauss, 2017). In the wake of the immigration ban, nations such as Iran and Iraq with comparatively higher economic significance can retaliate by banning American citizens into their country, placing tighter regulations on American multinational companies operating in their countries or even place restrictions on transfer of profits to the domicile nation i.e. the United States.
Healthy international business is a consequence of sound international relations. The former cannot exist in the absence of the latter. The two go hand in hand. Therefore to maintain strong international business relations with the banned nations and others in the Middle East region, the United States has to call back the immigration ban and look for other ways to curb terrorism and improve on national security (Krauss, 2017). The United States depends on the region for oil and gas imports while the region depends on the United States for both consumer and capital goods. This two-way business is likely to face a blow if the immigration ban remains in place.
How others benefit/learn from the situation
While it is important to secure the nation and prioritize national security, this should not be done at the detriment of national business. The immigration ban remains to be a radical and a somewhat unnecessary step towards globalization and promoting international business (Krauss, 2017). We should be building bridges across nations and not erecting walls. Any attempts to deter international business should be discarded. The immigration order has affected the corporate image of many American multinational corporations operating in the Middle East and have had their sales dwindle since the release of the order (Krauss, 2017). As such multinational companies from other nations such China and Russia are taking on the opportunities and increasing their market share (Krauss, 2017).
The effects of the immigration ban should serve as a lesson for countries drafting their foreign relations strategies. These strategies should center on boosting international business.
References
Krauss, C. (2017). Immigration Order Complicates U.S. Businesses’ Plans in the Middle East. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 4 February 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/business/immigration-order-business-iran- iraq.html?ref=business
