U.S. law makes the bribery of foreign officials by American firms or their subsidiaries illegal. This in spite of cultures in many countries, including Mexico, requiring such bribery to get anything done.
WalMart has gotten caught up in a scandal involving the bribery of Mexican government officials to get permission to build stores. The bribes have been paid, the stores built, but now some poor suckers will have to take the fall for being good company men. Throw 'em under the bus.
This is one of those laws the passing of which made Congress feel good about itself. It cost the government nothing much to demand that we behave as Americans wherever we go, regardless of local customs. American firms that want to succeed overseas almost have to violate it and hope not to get caught.
Yes, in every foreign country the laws forbid bribery. However, in many (but not all) of them the law is pure window-dressing. It simply does not conform to cultural norms and practices. See the article on Yahoo News.
