Coupang is moving aggressively to put U.S. small and midsize business products on its e-commerce platform. Some say Coupang is working to align with the U.S. government, where parent company Coupang Inc. is based.
Since a large-scale personal information leak at the end of November last year, Coupang has used the U.S. Congress as a kind of shield to minimize various government relations risks that could arise in its domestic business. The key is to ensure that U.S. corporations like Coupang do not receive discriminatory treatment from the Korean government.
According to the retail industry on the 10th, Coupang plans to hold a roadshow this year in the United States for small and midsize businesses. Starting with the ECRM trade show in Chicago, it has schedules ahead in Destin, Florida, Dallas, Expo West in Anaheim, California, and the Prosper Show in Las Vegas. The purpose is to select products from U.S. small and midsize businesses and list them on the Coupang platform. About 90% of Coupang Inc.'s revenue comes from the Korean market. That means Korean consumers will encounter products from U.S. small and midsize businesses.
Sellers in the United States can use Coupang's California logistics center to conveniently sell products to Korean consumers. Once goods are received, Coupang handles the entire process. It can handle all categories, including refrigerated and frozen products. Like Amazon, returns can also be processed within Coupang.
Coupang is also actively identifying and publicizing results. On Business Wire, a press release distribution service, there is material saying that Kate's Real Food, an organic energy bar maker in Pennsylvania, increased sales by more than 50% year over year after entering Korea by using the Coupang platform and services. Business Wire provides a service that distributes press releases to media outlets for a distribution expense per release.
In the retail industry, this is seen as the process of creating real cases so that the U.S. Congress can operate in a way favorable to Coupang. If proactive government relations activities have created a channel to deliver voices friendly to Coupang, the company also needs to provide justification so the system can actually work.
Over the past five years, Coupang has focused on government relations in the United States. According to lobbying reports released by the U.S. Senate, Coupang spent $10.75 million (about 15.92 billion won) on lobbying activities over roughly five years since August 2021.
Lobbying targets included not only the legislative bodies—the Senate and the House—but also the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Treasury, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the White House, and the National Security Council (NSC). Lobbying expenditures started at $10.1 million in 2021, reached $18.1 million in 2022, and $15.5 million in 2023. In 2024, a U.S. presidential election year, they increased to $33 million.
According to Politico, a U.S. political outlet, Coupang has built strong ties with figures from the Trump administration on this basis. The Trump administration has emphasized expanding exports of U.S.-made products by putting "America First" at the core of its trade policy.
A retail industry official said, "When Coupang presented a vision that it could be used as an export hub for U.S.-made products, some responded by asking whether most of the items listed on the Coupang platform are made in China," adding, "If the company can find and publicize one major success story, it will be able to conduct government relations more efficiently."
Coupang is pushing this hard because conflicts between the Korean government and Coupang have grown since December through hearings and other proceedings. As a U.S.-listed company mindful of potential investor lawsuits, Coupang has focused on minimizing the perceived severity of the personal information leak. A representative example is narrowing the scope of the leak to personal data downloaded to a suspect's personal PC and announcing a reduced figure of 3,000 cases.
This has repeatedly created a scene of confrontation with the Korean government, which aims to handle the matter under the principle of Data Sovereignty. Data Sovereignty means the fundamental principle that data is subject to the laws and regulations of the country where it is generated. Nations and individuals have the right to decide and protect who uses their data, where, and how; from the Korean government's perspective, Coupang's attempt to downplay the incident runs counter to this right. This is also why the Korea Fair Trade Commission said it could consider suspending Coupang's business in response to the personal information leak.
The retail industry expects Coupang to step up efforts to publicize more cases of maximizing exports of U.S. products. A retail industry official said, "Until a breakthrough is found in its conflict with the Korean government, the company has no choice but to use its U.S. government relations clout as a shield, and to do that, it needs to provide justification so the U.S. government relations system can function," adding, "For this, the company has no choice but to be more aggressive in discovering products from U.S. family businesses and small and midsize businesses. Creating just one or two success stories will be enough."