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Policy Memo
Topline
An arbitrary tariff exclusion process allows lobbyists to petition Washington bureaucrats for tariff exemptions for certain products. Small businesses that can’t get out from under heavy-handed tariffs lose out, while the lobbyists on K Street are do
For more information, please contact AAF Policy Director
John Shelton at john@advancingamericanfreedom.com
April 22, 2025 Why The Swamp Loves Tariffs
TOPLINE: An arbitrary tariff exclusion process allows lobbyists to petition Washington bureaucrats for tariff exemptions for certain products. Small businesses that can’t get out from under heavy-handed tariffs lose out, while the lobbyists on K Street are doing better than ever.
K STREET COLLECTS: • 277% increase in tariff lobbyist spending in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024. • 138% increase in registered tariff lobbying disclosures in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024. • 21% increase in average tariff lobbying contract in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024.
• During his first term, Trump’s Office of the United States Trade Representative received more than 50,000 requests for tariff exemptions related just to China. • The Commerce Department received almost 500,000 exclusion requests related to steel and aluminum tariffs.
o READ MORE: AAF Fellow Joel Griffith - WEX - Lobbyists love our swampy tariff
MAIN STREET SUFFERS: • 16 percent fewer small business owners expect the economy to improve, as of March.
o This is the largest monthly decline in confidence since December 2020. • 7% of small business owners fear that they will have to close in the next 2 years. • The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index has plummeted 8 points since February.
o READ MORE: AAF MEMO – Spoiling America’s Golden Age: Tariffs Could End
America’s Golden Age Before it Begins
BOTTOM LINE: President Trump was elected to correct the Biden economy. Unfortunately, the Trump Tariff Tax has sown uncertainty among American businessmen and in the world’s economy. Today, 53% of Americans believe that their personal financial situation is getting worse, 58% expect the stock market to continue to go down over the next 6 months, and 42% of Americans believe that we are in a recession, according to the latest Gallup Poll.
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Total Value of Q1 Tariff
Tariffs Feed Swamp Creatures
Source: House Clerk Lobbying Disclosures