[rayiner]

Moral and economic reasons. Without making it illegal for US companies to do it, there would be strong competitive pressures for companies to engage in bribery abroad, and honest US companies couldn’t compete.

Stepping back and thinking about the bigger picture, the FCPA is an example of a law that enforces economically beneficial morality. One of the things that makes America a good place to live, and economically successful, is that it’s not a bribe-based society. Bribery is a tax on economically productive activity, and it’s good for the economy as a whole to stamp it out.