A sneak peek at Chinese fast fashion giant Shein's DC lobbying efforts
The company has hired lobbying juggernaut Akin Gump as well as the son of a former US Vice President to lobby Congress as criticism of the company arises.
Singapore-based Chinese fast fashion giant Shein is relatively new to DC's lobbying scene. But the e-commerce powerhouse has already hired one of the most influential firms in the lobbying sphere and the son of a former US Vice President to lobby Congressional lawmakers, as criticism of the company mounts over its labor and business practices.
Eight lobbyists from two lobbying firms are representing Shein, according to this year's first quarter disclosure documents. One of the firms is Akin Gump, whose clients include US Chamber of Commerce, Amazon, Pfizer, UPS, eBay as well as China's ZTE and Xiaomi.
According to Open Secrets, an organization that tracks US lobbying activities, Akin Gump, which was started in 1945, had the second highest revenue among all lobbying firms last year. The firm also has a history of working for powerful companies from China.
The other firm Shein hired isn't nearly as resourceful. At least not on paper. HHQ, or Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures LLC, was formed only 10 years ago. But one of its partners, who is also a lobbyist hired by Shein, is Benjamin Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle during the George H.W. Bush administration.
Ben Quayle was himself a former member of Congress from 2011 to 2013, representing the state of Arizona in the House.
Ben’s brother, Tucker Quayle, had over 20 years of business experience in China, according to an online bio from an event that he attended.
The bio says that Tucker "retired from those ventures over five years ago" due to "political changes in China" that made it "increasingly difficult" to do business there.
All eight of Shein's lobbyists had government experience. A couple of them worked for Congressional lawmakers. But Quayle is likely to "open a lot more doors than your average lobbyist is", said Ben Freeman, an expert on foreign lobbying at Quincy Institute, to VOA Chinese.
“At the end of the day, you're talking about over half a million dollars a year for them to hire his firm,” Freeman said. “I have to imagine, with Ben Quayle, they're getting their money's worth.”
In fact, Shein has been paying more to the three HHQ lobbyists at $140,000 per quarter than to the five Akin Gump lobbyists at $90,000 per quarter, according to disclosure documents.
Unknown in China, Shein has become one of the most popular fast fashion brands in the world. According to Bloomberg’s Second Measure, Shein holds the biggest share of the US fast fashion market. The company was at one pointed worth more than H&M and Zara combined.
But Shein is also facing growing criticism of its questionable labor and business practices. The company is reportedly working with investment banks to prepare for a potential Initial Public Offering in the US this year.
In May, bipartisan lawmakers in Congress sent a letter to the Security and Exchange Commission, urging it to stop Shein's IPO process until it can be verified that the brand did not use cotton produced by forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. Shein has denied the accusation, telling media that it does not source cotton from Xinjiang.
In March, a group called Shut Down SHEIN came into public view. According to its website, it is "a growing coalition of like-minded individuals and businesses committed to increasing the awareness of SHEIN’S dangerous and reprehensible behavior".
Shut Down SHEIN is paying lobbying firm Actum to help run its operations, according to Chapin Fay, the executive director of the group, who also works at Actum.
Actum is a much smaller firm compared to Akin Gump & HHQ. In 2022, Actum had a revenue of over $400,000, according to Open Secrets. HHQ received $6 million in revenue last year, while Akin Gump raked in $53 million.