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Italy's Campari America unit has hired Trump-connected Ballard Partners to handle trade and tariff matters.
The Milan-based company is the world's No. 6 spirits producer and owner of the Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY.
The EU has slapped a retaliatory tariff on US whiskey imports following President Trump's decision to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports to the US.
While Campari believes free trade is in the interests of all parties, a spokesperson says since Wild Turkey Straight Kentucky Bourbon "is in its seeding phase in Europe, the duties on bourbon will not affect our growth plans for the brand nor the overall performance of the company."
Brian Ballard, who was Trump's top campaign fundraiser in Florida, and Syl Lukis, manager of Ballard's DC office, handle the business for Campari America, which is based in New York.
San Francisco-based Skyy Spirits, maker of Skyy Vodka, is the other key part of Campari America.
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company banned by Defense Secretary Hegseth, has hired Ballard Partners for DC representation.
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development enrolls Venable for government relations services.
Coinbase has hired Checkmate Government Relations, which has close ties to the Trump administration, to handle matters related to digital assets as the Senate works on the Clarity Act.
Peter Thiel-backed Palantir Technologies has added Democratic firm Ferox Strategies to its DC lobbying line-up to handle data analytics and technology issues.
Former congressmen Joe Crowley (D-NY) and Jeff Denham (R-CA) have signed on to handle the “new” TikTok on issues related to internet technology and learning-enabled platforms.
