April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Group spent a record amount lobbying US politicians and officials in 2017 to counter Washington’s growing protectionism and other negatives, market sources said on Feb. 26.

The No. 1 family-controlled conglomerate in Asia‘s fourth-largest economy spent US$3.5 million lobbying lawmakers and government officials in Washington last year, according to local industry sources and the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan US research group that tracks the effects of money and lobbying on elections and public policy.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading smartphone and memory chip maker, took the lion’s share with $3.41 million, with the remainder forked out by Samsung C&T, the group‘s construction unit.

Last year’s amount was more than double the US$1.64 million spent the previous year and hovered well above the previous record of US$1.68 million set two years earlier.

According to Samsung’s report to authorities, trade-related issues were the main lobbying target in the US last year, with 18 cases out of a total of 110.

By institution, the Senate was the top target with 27 cases, followed by the House of Representatives with 26 and the office of the American president with nine.

The Office of the Trade Representative and the Commerce Department came next with six cases each, trailed by the White House and the Treasury Department with five, respectively.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)