I wish the US would go after companies like this. Instead the US is ran for the companies.
Volkswagen was pumping tons of NOx into the air in EU cities for years and regulators there rolled over and looked the other way the whole time. But in the US they got regulated hard.
American companies more frequently break EU law because they're used to the US regulatory environment, which is so loose that in many areas it may as well not exist. In the rare situations where a regulator does start to speak up, it's easily manipulated through lobbying (see FCC common carrier regulations as an example).
Part of it is also cultural/economic. American companies are aggressive and come to Europe when they've already amassed a large war chest from their business success in the US, so they're willing to risk a fight with European regulators because they know they'll be able to fund it. European companies are more conservative, so less willing to clash with regulators, and they have to survive in Europe from their inception, so may not be able to afford a large legal battle.
I have personally seen RFPs that "had to" go to French vendors, etc., etc.
Even aside from the marketing label, there are practicalities achieved by choosing a domestic business partner, like simplification of legal issues.
There's little doubt that this is true. Given US history from independence onward, the question is why does the US environment so often favor corporate rights and protection for corporations over that of freedoms and interests of individuals. It seems to me that the reality of US governance (its emphasis) is the reverse of what one would expect.
The only conclusion I can come to is that citizens in the US democracy have effectively considerably lower representation than do corporations through some systemic problem with their democracy. That's to say the reality is not one vote per person but effectively each citizen's vote is worth much less than that.
Why is it thus?
Are we still pretending like Volkswagen was the only manufacturer breaking/'gaming' the rules on pollution? Or that Japanese and American[1] car-makers were not doing the same? Well, they were.
1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vw-just-the-latest-in-long-hist...
Are you actually pretending that any of these cases compares to the scope and the depth of Volkswagen's treachery and lawbreaking with "clean diesel"?
The biggest thing is that EU fact checks the bullshit that these companies spew. The US simply has, let's call it "successfully lobbied," senators listen to "expert witness" statements.
I really don't understand how Americophobia can be so disproportionate among HN crowd. Does anyone honestly think politicians in a specific part of the world are not corrupt?
Just because American democracy is failing, it does not mean democracy is failing everywhere.
* The mix of corrupt decisions to honest decisions is probably very different between USA and EU.
* USA legally endorses bribes[1].