Trump’s tariffs have sparked a lobbying frenzy in Washington that’s only growing stronger

In the run-up to U.S. President Donald Trump’s first election victory in 2016, he repeatedly vowed to “drain the swamp” in Washington.

With Mr. Trump’s second term dominated by aggressive tariff actions, including his latest threat to slap 50-per-cent duties on US$20-billion of Canadian goods, Washington is swamped more than ever with lobbyists angling to influence trade policy.

In the second quarter, lobbyists hired by clients to act on tariff issues earned more than US$10-million for their work, according to U.S. federal filings.

That was a roughly 10-per-cent increase from the same period in 2025, which was when Mr. Trump launched his doomed emergency tariffs on Liberation Day, and an eight-fold surge since 2024.

In some cases it’s easy to draw straight lines between lobbyist filings and specific actions taken recently by the Trump administration under Section 338, which were ostensibly aimed at Canadian barriers on U.S. auto, dairy and alcohol.

The Washington-based International Dairy Foods Association has pushed for the “enforcement of dairy trade barriers with Canada,” during the past six quarters. Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman Corp., the owner of Jack Daniels, repeatedly lobbied about “retaliation” against American whiskies though without citing the bans on U.S. alcohol in most provinces.

However, many recent lobby efforts were aimed at reducing tariffs on Canadian goods, or advocated for the renewal of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, to little effect. The American Cement Association, The Toy Association, Inc. and the National Association of Home Builders all recently lobbied on tariffs and have publicly warned customs duties are driving up prices for U.S. consumers, but the 338 tariffs nevertheless hit products in each sector.

Even with the explosion in tariff lobbying, the filings don’t capture the most direct way U.S. firms can win protective action from the White House: having direct access to Mr. Trump’s ear or to his inner circle.

Case in point: Just hours after a February phone call from Matthew Moroun (whose family owns the Ambassador Bridge) to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump delayed the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge – which also crosses the Detroit River.

Tariffs take aim at Canadian whey protein during global shortage

Lobby records say the last time the U.S. bridge company lobbied Washington was in 2016.

Decoder is a weekly feature that unpacks an important economic chart.