India hires DC lobbying firm with Trump ties as tariffs loom

India’s embassy in Washington has hired a lobbying firm with close ties to the Trump administration and a history of advocating for foreign entities targeted by the US, just before 50 per cent tariffs take effect on exports from the South Asian country, according to Bloomberg.

The embassy is paying $75,000 per month to Mercury Public Affairs LLC to provide government relations, media relations and other services, according to an August 18 filing detailing the agreement.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is a former co-chair of Mercury. Mercury Partner Bryan Lanza, who previously served as communications director for US President Donald Trump’s transition team, was listed among those working on the account, according to a separate disclosure.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mercury didn’t respond to a request sent after business hours in the US. The hiring comes as relations between the US and India have rapidly soured since Trump returned to the White House. Most recently, ties have frayed over the White House vow to impose 50 per cent tariffs — set to take effect on Wednesday — on Indian goods as punishment for New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil.

The White House has argued that the oil purchases fund Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, but Indian officials say they stabilise oil markets, adding that Washington had previously approved the purchases. The US is India’s No 1 trading partner, and New Delhi worries that the tariffs could devastate exporters.

Mercury has a track record of lobbying on behalf of foreign clients who have come into Washington’s crosshairs. For example, the firm earlier this year disclosed a contract with the Embassy of Denmark, which has opposed Trump’s push to take control of its self-ruling territory of Greenland.

Mercury also previously represented several Chinese companies targeted by Trump. In 2018, Mercury lobbied for the US arm of Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, targeted by the US over its work on surveillance projects in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. Mercury has also lobbied on behalf of sanctioned Chinese telecom firm ZTE Corp.

Separately, Gautam Adani has also been bolstering his Washington lobbying operation since Trump took over the White House. The Indian tycoon — Asia’s second-richest person and a confidante of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — is contesting charges of involvement in an alleged bribery scheme.