Because tariffs have increased the cost of inputs, some industrial companies have begun laying off workers. Uncertainty has also plagued the economy as a whole, with the stock market collapsing in tandem with a weakening currency and rising rates on Treasury bonds. For lobbyists in Washington, D.C., however, protectionism is always a full-employment program, and the tariff proposal proposed by the Trump administration is no different.
According to Advancing American Freedom’s review of lobbying records submitted to the House of Representatives clerk, $4.9 million was spent on trade-related lobbying in the first quarter of 2025. Compared to the $1.3 million spent in the first quarter of 2024, that is a 277 percent increase.
In the first quarter of this year, there were 212 registered lobbying firms, up from 89 in the same period last year. The typical tariff lobbyist is richer since that rise isn’t as significant as the increase in spending, expressed as a percentage. The average value of a lobbying contract pertaining to tariffs has increased by 21% over the previous year.
2018 saw the start of the first Trump administration’s trade conflicts and the last significant spike in tariff lobbying. With the number of registered businesses increasing from 71 to 139, tariff lobbying expenditure skyrocketed from $702,500 in the first quarter of 2017 to $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2018. Since the trade battle is bigger this time, there is also a greater amount of lobbying.
Lobbying is an essential component of protectionism, not a regrettable byproduct. A government that has the authority to punish companies may also exempt them from penalty, and it is very profitable for a large corporation to receive an exemption. An exemption that may save a large corporation hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars could be obtained by investing a million dollars in a group of lobbyists.
Even better if the lobbying company has ties to the ruling party. The fact that Ballard Partners, one of the companies closest to Trump, has seen three times its quarterly sales this year compared to the first quarter of last year is no accident. Its clients include Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, and Chevron, and it advocates on a wide range of topics.
Naturally, little firms are unable to pay lobbyists, therefore their issues are ignored. With its tariff policy, the ostensibly populist administration that represents “Main Street” is favoring large corporations who already have a strong relationship with the government and can afford to hire costly lobbyists to argue their cause.
Insiders in Washington love tariffs. Politicians and bureaucrats believed they knew better how to set up trade, which is bad for the American people, who will pay higher prices and maybe lose their jobs as a result.
