Tariffs

Joe Lancaster | 11.27.2024 12:55 PM

During his first run for the presidency in 2016, Donald Trump pledged to "drain the swamp"—ridding Washington of the corruption and lobbying that make politics so distasteful.

But ironically, lobbying was one of the few industries to benefit from his protectionist trade policy. Now, with Trump promising across-the-board tariffs on all imports—including from Canada and Mexico—lobbying firms are loading up on clients hoping to petition the government for relief.

"The sweeping tariffs that President-elect Donald J. Trump imposed in his first term on foreign metals, machinery, clothing and other products were intended to have maximum impact around the world," writes The New York Times' Ana Swanson. But when companies complained about the ruinously expensive duties—as high as 25 percent, on certain products from China—"the Trump administration set up a process that allowed them to apply for special exemptions….That ignited a swift and often successful lobbying effort, especially from Washington's high-priced K Street law firms, which ended up applying for hundreds of thousands of tariff exemptions."

The number of trade lobbyists increased in tandem, growing from 921 in 2016 to a record 1,419........

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