Amazon spends company record on U.S. lobbying in 2018: filing

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc spent $14.19 million on lobbying the U.S. government in 2018, according to a regulatory filing, beating its year-ago record, as large U.S. technology companies pushed back on issues such as privacy, immigration and new tariffs.

Issues of interest to Amazon also included healthcare plans, drug prices and food safety that were discussed with the Food and Drug Administration and other federal bodies, according to its filing to Congress late on Tuesday.

The company declined to comment beyond the filing.

Alphabet Inc Google and Facebook Inc also disclosed on Tuesday that they set their own records for lobbying spending in 2018.

Amazon spent about $13 million on U.S. lobbying in 2017, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

(Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Richard Chang)

By Paresh Dave