Online clothing store SHEIN, whose labor methods in China are being questioned by U.S. lawmakers, spent $600,000 lobbying on Capitol Hill in the second quarter, according to the first registrations it filed with the government.
Daniel Auble, a senior researcher at the non-profit Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political giving and lobbying, said that the spending by Singapore-based Shein, which opened in China in 2012, shows the company’s moderate spending plan to influence lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
In May, about two dozen U.S. officials from both parties asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to stop Shein from going public until the company proved it doesn’t use forced labor or break the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Shein has said it doesn’t use forced labor and doesn’t plan to go public in the U.S. this year.
U.S. lawmakers are also worried about SHEIN’s use of a U.S. duty exemption on low-cost direct shipments to consumers and the protection of its customers’ data.
Auble said that Shein’s $600,000 lobbying bill, which was filed on Friday, does not make it “one of the biggest spenders.”
On the other hand, lobbying records showed that Walmart spent $1.62 million and Gap spent $140,000 in the second quarter.
Filings from the lobbying companies showed that SHEIN has paid Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures $500,000 and Akin, Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld $270,000 since the third quarter of 2022.
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