Lobbying: Amid Trump tariffs, Pak hires seven American firms; India hires two
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The US imposed 25 percent tariffs on India, effective August 7, and an additional 25 percent as a penalty for importing Russian oil, effective August 27. It also imposed a 19 percent tariff on Pakistan. To counter Pakistani propaganda, for which Islamabad has hired seven American lobbying companies, India has also hired two firms to push its case in the US.
According to media reports on Monday, nearly 30 countries have hired American lobbying firms this year, following the start of US President Donald Trump’s highly controversial trade and tariff policy. Pakistan alone has hired seven such firms, including the one headed by two former Trump aides, Keith Schiller (bodyguard) and George Sorial (compliance chief).
In April, India engaged Jason Miller’s SHW Partners LLC on a year-long contract costing USD 1.8 million, at a monthly fee of USD 150,000. Now, the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, has signed a three-month retainer with Mercury Public Affairs at USD 75,000 per month, effective August 15, to provide strategic communications services.
Mercury’s partners, David Vitter, a former Louisiana Republican Senator, and Bryan Lanza, Communications Director for the 2020 Donald Trump transition team, will handle the India account. They will be supported by a four-member team, including Kevin Thomas, the first Indian-American elected to the New York State Senate.
This lobbying firm has links to President Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who remained a registered lobbyist with the firm until November 2024 before joining the White House.
Earlier, Lanza served as Deputy Communications Director for the Trump-Pence 2016 Presidential campaign and consulted for JD Vance during his Senate campaign.
Foreign governments and major clients routinely hire multiple lobbying firms in the US—sometimes up to six—since each performs distinct functions.
In the first half of 2025, federal lobbying spending reached approximately USD 2.53 billion, according to the transparency group Open Secrets. The total federal lobbying expenditure for 2024 was reported to be USD 4.5 billion, surpassing the previous year’s total of USD 4.35 billion.
