Apple spent more lobbying Washington last year than it ever has before. Still, its spending was dwarfed by the likes of Google and Facebook.
Apple hired an expert on drones and aviation law as a lobbyist. But this doesn’t mean the company is about to introduce a line of unmanned aircraft.
Apple has hired a pro-Trump lobbyist to lobby on its behalf to help it avoid tariffs.
Jeffrey Miller was vice finance chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee prior to becoming a fundraiser for President Trump’s reelection campaign.
A lobbyist representing tech companies including Apple has warned that tariffs on Chinese products will have a catastrophic impact.
Sage Chandler, of the Consumer Technology Association, said that President Trump’s proposed import tariffs will cause the price of consumer products to rise significantly.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Justice Department’s antitrust chief to recuse himself from investigating Apple and Google.
The Democratic 2020 presidential candidate said that Makan Delrahim has a conflict of interest. This is due to his history lobbying for the two companies.
When it comes to lobbying Congress, Apple’s biggest focus by far is on tax laws. Out of 236 lobbying reports since 2005, tax is mentioned in a massive 76%.
This is one takeaway from a new report, analyzing lobbying spend from the big five tech giants, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. Between them, they have spent $582 million on lobbying since 2005. According to the report, Apple spent $9.6 million on lobbying last year, and $59.9 million since 2005.
Apple spent $6.6 million lobbying Congress and other federal officials in 2018, newly released records show. While that’s approximately in line with the $7 million it spent in 2017, it’s considerably less than the amount spent by some of Apple’s FAANG rivals.
During the same period, Facebook spent $12.6 million, Amazon spent $14.2 million, and Google — the biggest lobbyist by far — spent a massive $21 million. That’s an increase on Google’s $18 million spend in 2017.
Apple ramped up its lobbying spend in 2017, shelling out $7 million to battle many of the regulations and proposed new laws issued by the Trump administration.
Under Tim Cook, amount spent by Apple on lobbying efforts has more than doubled. However, while last year’s figure was a personal record for the company, it is less than many other big tech giants spent. During the same period, Google spent $18 million on lobbying efforts, while Amazon spent $12.8 million, and Facebook spent $11.5 million.
As Apple continues to be embroiled in ongoing encryption drama, the company has hired a former NFL lobbyist and former aide to Vice President Joe Biden to head up its new Washington office.
Apple, Amazon and Google aren’t exactly techie BFFs, as can be seen from that whole Android vs. iOS thing, or Amazon’s recent decision to boot Apple TV out of its online store.
But you know what can bring the heads of all three companies together? Let’s try a quick pop-quiz.
A) Team-building paintball trip.
B) Romantic candlelit dinner.
C) The promise of lots and lots of cash.
Click below to find out. (Hint: the answer is C.)
