German firms donate $1.7 million to US election campaign

Citing figures from the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the independent Center for Responsive Politics, daily Die Welt reported that German companies had used their US-based subsidiaries to make the congressional campaign donations.

Big pharmaceutical company Bayer gave the most, handing over $341,000, according to FEC figures on October 3, the paper reported.

Meanwhile German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiaries gave $310,650 to US politicians and engineering conglomerate Siemens donated $227,000.

A total of 16 US subsidiaries of German companies made campaign donations, the paper said.

UK companies made the most donations from Europe, with $3.4 million, followed by Swiss businesses with $2.9 million. The German subsidiaries took third place.

Though the amount of foreign donations is still small when compared to the $3.7-billion campaign, “as the employers of millions of Americans their donations will have weight in the current political decisions,” Die Welt said.

Germany’s 50 biggest firms employ some 300,000 Americans, according to the German American Chambers of Commerce.

None of the German companies made donations to the right-wing Tea Party candidates, the paper said.

On November 2 the US public will elect it to the polls to elect the House of Representatives, in addition to 37 seats in the Senate, 38 state governorships and state legislatures.

DAPD/ka