> When it comes to businesses, the US government reserves the right to institute international boycotts. Companies may not, generally speaking, boycott a countr

> When it comes to businesses, the US government reserves the right to institute international boycotts. Companies may not, generally speaking, boycott a country (or people from that country, etc) unless that country (or person) is being boycotted by the US. That is far from clear and has not been settled by the SC. There is a federal amendment from 1977 to the Export Administration Act (EEA) that forbade American companies from participating in the boycott against Israel that the Arab League organized. However, since then the SC decided in favor of African American organizations that in the 1960's had organized boycotts against racist white shopkeepers. The SC ruled that political boycotts was protected free speech and participating in them a constitutional right. Another counter-argument is that the boycott against Israel is not maintained by a "foreign country" but by the BDS movement and other grassroots organizations around the world. Furthermore, the boycott targets non-Israel companies doing business in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories just as much as it targets Israeli companies. Thus, the EEA may not be applicable at all. In either case, the EEA doesn't entail an obligation of contractors to promise not to boycott certain countries to be awarded government contracts, which is what this (and other similar state laws) is all about.