Trump’s Tariffs Are Causing an Economic Boom for D.C. Lobbyists
President Donald Trump’s trade war is causing economic problems for American manufacturers, farmers, energy producers, big box stores, small businesses, investors, and consumers.
But there is one industry that’s prospering due to tariffs: Lobbying firms in Washington, D.C.
Lobbying expenditures on trade issues were a staggering 277 percent higher in the first quarter of 2025 than in the first quarter of 2024, according to data reported to the clerk of the House of Representatives and compiled by Advancing American Freedom Foundation, a conservative nonprofit. In raw dollars, lobbying firms reported spending $4.9 million on trade-related issues in the first three months of this year, up from $1.3 million during the same three months in 2024.
There’s also been a huge expansion in the number of lobbying firms working on the tariff issue. According to the House data, 212 different entities registered some spending on tariff lobbying in the first quarter of this year, up from just 89 that worked on tariff issues in the first three months of last year.
And the average cost to businesses is increasing too. Compared to last year, the average tariff lobbying contract is now 21 percent higher, according to AAFF’s analysis.
None of this should be particularly surprising, even though the numbers paint a stark picture. Lobbying is not a side effect or unintended consequence of protectionist policies, but a fundamental component of them. If the federal government has the power to impose massive new taxes on Americans—without so much as a vote from Congress—businesses have a tremendous incentive to lobby for exclusions from those taxes.
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Article from Reason.com
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