Corporate Giants Jump Into Trump’s Tariff Fight

The following article by Sean McMinn was posted on the Roll Call website July 24, 2018:

Microsoft, Cisco among those that started lobbying on tariffs this year

Microsoft founder Bill Gates rides the Senate escalator with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-AZ., in 2014. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call file photo

President Donald Trump’s burgeoning trade war has prompted some big names to join the fight on tariffs.

Of the 20 largest spenders that indicated they were lobbying on tariffs in the most recent round of disclosure filings, nine of these companies or trade associations began doing so in the past year.

Google — which has spent about $11 million on lobbying so far this year, according to its reports to Congress — leads that list of newcomers. It reported lobbying for the first time on tariffs in the first quarter of this year. The tech giant specifically indicated it was lobbying the House and Senate on “China tariffs.”

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