The president has said the law is unfair to U.S. businesses. But lawyers say weakening it could end up costing corporate America big.

President Trump has long argued that a law barring companies from bribing officials of foreign governments stifles deal-making abroad and puts American companies at a disadvantage.

But when he effectively put the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act out of commission this week, the order did not elicit the cheers from corporate America that you might have expected. Lawyers who specialize in corporate corruption cases told DealBook that moves to potentially weaken the law could backfire on multinationals by actually raising the cost of doing business overseas.

The F.C.P.A. has ensnared the likes of McKinsey, Petrobras and Goldman Sachs in some of the biggest corporate bribery scandals of the past half century. It is supposed to send the message that paying or seeking bribes to win business will not be tolerated anywhere,

Keep reading this article on Andrew Ross Sorkin - DealBook Blog New York Times.