TikTok Spends $325K Lobbying on Trade and Export Control Policy

• Crossroads Strategies LLC: $80,000
• Dentons US LLP: $75,000
• AND Partners LLC: $60,000

TikTok's total reported lobbying across all four registrants in the third quarter was $325,000, down $50,000 from $375,000 in the second quarter and down $205,000 from $530,000 in the third quarter of 2025. The second-quarter total included a $50,000 termination filing from Ballard Partners LLC, which has no third-quarter counterpart.

The Akin Gump filing names only one lobbyist: Joe Fawkner, a senior policy adviser. Fawkner is a former House staffer who served in Rep. Carol Miller's (R-WV) personal office. His reported trade-focused client roster at Akin Gump also includes Illumina Inc. and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, both registered this year on trade issues. That roster puts Fawkner among lobbyists representing multiple technology and medical-device clients on trade policy at the same time.

Broader Context

Export controls and TikTok's ownership have intersected directly in federal policy analysis. A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report by Peter J. Benson, Clare Y. Cho and Michael D. Sutherland found that Chinese officials indicated China could apply its export-control laws to block ByteDance from divesting TikTok. The report examined those laws alongside TikTok's ownership and data security issues. A separate CRS report by Sutherland and Karen M. Sutter described China's controls on algorithm exports, including restrictions imposed in August 2020 on social media algorithms, noting that some experts viewed them as an effort to influence TikTok and other Chinese digital firms' overseas operations.

TikTok announced Jan. 23 that it had established TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC under a September 2025 executive order. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each hold 15% of the venture, while ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake. TikTok said the majority American-owned entity would oversee U.S. user data, algorithm security, content moderation and cybersecurity protections. The arrangement followed years of debate over whether TikTok's Chinese ownership posed national security risks and how federal law should address them.

On the enforcement side, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a $252 million penalty against Applied Materials and Applied Materials Korea for illegally exporting semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. The companies agreed to the penalty in February after BIS found that they had exported equipment without the required licenses. Separately, President Donald Trump announced in December 2025 that the United States would permit exports of Nvidia H200 and similar semiconductor products to approved customers in China. BIS revised its license-review policy Jan. 13 to allow case-by-case consideration of applications involving the H200, AMD MI325X and comparable chips, subject to security requirements. Those actions illustrate the broader trade enforcement and licensing environment, although TikTok's disclosure does not establish that it lobbied on either semiconductor matter.

Congressional attention to TikTok's ownership and foreign influence questions has continued. In an Oct. 29, 2025, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee statement, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) described the proposed TikTok deal as an example of the danger when principles protecting competition and independent media break down. She questioned how TikTok would remove Chinese influence from its algorithms, saying she was "still waiting for that explanation."

In January 2025, House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) said the Supreme Court's unanimous decision upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was "the law of the land." He urged ByteDance to divest TikTok so the platform can continue operating in the United States. Those statements placed members of both chambers on record pressing for changes to TikTok's ownership before the January joint venture agreement, which TikTok says satisfies U.S. regulatory requirements.

The Bottom Line

TikTok's January restructuring remains the central development in its U.S. ownership dispute, while questions about algorithm security and Chinese export controls continue to shape the broader policy debate. BIS's revised semiconductor licensing policy and its enforcement actions illustrate the federal export-control environment but are not specifically identified in TikTok's lobbying disclosure. The company's reported third-quarter lobbying spending declined from both the previous quarter and the same period in 2025, with Ballard Partners LLC's departure the most visible change in its outside-firm lineup.

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