Amazon paid a Trump fundraiser to put pressure on counterfeit sellers

Amazon has appealed to a lobbying company led by an ally of President Donald Trump to call on the government to take action against the sellers of counterfeit goods – an issue that has been the subject of further scrutiny during the American commercial battle against China.

Between July 2018 and March 2019, Amazon pays Ballard Partners up to $ 70,000 per quarter to, in part, lobby on "commercial and pricing policy" issues, according to three disclosure reports. However, people familiar with the case said that disclosure reports only tell part of the story.

Brian Ballard, one of the major fundraisers in Florida for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, lobbied Trump administration members on behalf of Amazon for fight against third-party suppliers who sell fake products to their customers.

They are trying "to prevent third parties from sending fake Nikes to the United States on the pretext that these are real products," said one person familiar with their efforts. Amazon is increasingly concerned about counterfeit and pirated products in its market. In a warning to investors in February, the company used the word "counterfeit" for the first time.

In April, a month after the latest effort by the lobbying company on Amazon's "commercial and pricing" policies, Trump signed a memorandum that aimed to limit the online sale of counterfeit goods.

"It's a thunderclap for these companies, so if you do not clean it up, the government will do it," Trump's commercial adviser Peter Navarro, nicknamed the "Chinese hawk," told the press. The memorandum calls on the departments of Homeland Security, Trade and Justice to issue a report recommending potential regulatory measures to combat the sale and possible shipment of these counterfeit products.

US Customs and Border Protection is constantly seizing counterfeit goods, while noting that counterfeiting has become an obstacle for legitimate businesses such as Amazon.

"Counterfeiters are looking for profits by making fake versions of the most popular products as soon as they hit the market, every time you buy a counterfeit product, a legitimate business loses money," says a memo. published on the CBP website.

The records show that Daniel McFaul, a former member of the Trump Transition Team, is one of three partners working with Ballard on behalf of Amazon.

Each of the disclosure forms includes the White House Office, the Vice-President's Office, the US Trade Representative, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the government entities with whom they made contact regarding the trade and tariff policies under the Trump administration.

Amazon has been one of Ballard's best customers for years. In 2018, Amazon paid the company $ 280,000 for lobbying services that went beyond commercial issues, including business deregulation and infrastructure financing, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. That year, the lobby group had one of the best since the beginning of Trump's presidency, with an income of $ 18.3 million. Until now, in early 2019, the company had reported just over 4 million dollars.

Ballard and a spokesman for Amazon did not send back a comment request.

As for pricing, Amazon told the Washington Post last month: "Companies of all sizes, from the supply chain, are adapting to the rising costs resulting from the new rates." In July of last year, Reuters reported, citing a familiar person, that looking into campaigns against tariffs.

Analysts said that tariffs on imports from China could affect third-party sellers.

Under the headline "Amazon sellers face higher costs," Bank of America analysts wrote in May that "3P [third party] The first round of US tariffs in September (the costs of raw materials and finished products increased) has slightly affected sellers on the AMZN ", adding that" about 25% of products included in the new rights of 25% US customs are finished products for consumer products, many products likely to be purchased from Amazon through 3P sellers. "

The lobbying also took place while Amazon has decided to close its Chinese e-commerce market and will instead start moving to cross-border activity in the region.