In January 2025, it was revealed that South Korean conglomerates had raised their lobbying expenditures in the US during the previous year, with Samsung at the forefront, spending almost $7 million. These increasing lobbying efforts in the world’s largest economy seem to be a reaction to shifts in US approaches, including the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, while also gearing up for the forthcoming Trump government.
Government lobbying by nations and corporations is a routine affair in the USA. The clique of lobbyists is well awarded for making sure that the objectives of their clients are safeguarded before the global economic giant.
It’s not surprising, therefore, that Samsung is among other large tech firms to engage in lobbying. Statistics from OpenSecrets, a research organization that monitors money coming into US politics, show that Samsung spent $5.45 million lobbying the US government alone last year.
Samsung continues to invest less than Apple in lobbying the US government
Samsung Electronics America collectively shelled out $5.45 million in 2024 in lobbying expenditures. Other Samsung companies also used lobbyists, including Samsung Semiconductor at a cost of $860,000 and Samsung SDI America for $610,000. Collectively, the Samsung group had a total expenditure on lobbying to the tune of $6.98 million.
If that sounds excessive, a bit of viewpoint will clarify. Apple invested $7.82 million in its lobbying activities in 2024. Compared to the combined total expenditures by all Samsung businesses, it was still less than what Apple invested in defending and advancing its agenda.
Samsung’s expenditures are over twice those of its principal foundry competitor, TSMC, which incurred $3.01 million. That gap is simply due to the reality that TSMC is solely in the relations of producing chips and doesn’t have a consumer product selling business. Samsung is a large multinational corporation with numerous business divisions that sell goods straight to U.S. consumers like home devices, mobile phones, TVs, laptops, and more.
It is more exposed to the terms of trade policy, such as tariffs, that would have a substantial effect on the company’s operations. Therefore, it is logical that Samsung would hold a relatively more significant lobbying expenditure than TSMC.
