Political Engagement
We advocate for policies, trade agreements, legislation and regulations that enable us to help our customers.
Where allowable by law, Caterpillar may make corporate contributions to political organizations or committees to support public policies we believe will promote our business interests. Any corporate political contributions by Caterpillar must be approved by our senior vice president of Global Government & Corporate Affairs. In addition, the board annually reviews the company’s political spending policy and political activities, including corporate political contributions, community segments. We support these organizations as political contribution activities of the Caterpillar Inc. Political Action Committee (CATPAC), trade association participation, and Caterpillar’s lobbying priorities.1
CATPAC contributions are made only in U.S. federal and state elections. CATPAC is funded through voluntary contributions by eligible individuals. A steering committee comprised of Caterpillar non-officer employees representing a diverse mix of U.S. locations and business units oversees all CATPAC disbursements to ensure they promote the company’s business interests.
Caterpillar also maintains memberships in trade and industry associations that may advocate on behalf of business community segments. We support these organizations as they champion public policies that contribute to the business community’s growth and success.
The 2022 Caterpillar Lobbying Report highlights how our memberships in U.S. trade and industry associations complement the achievement of our goals and priorities and explains how we manage instances where an association’s positions may not be completely aligned with Caterpillar’s priorities. A climate lobbying section is also included to address our advocacy for policies that help us support our customers during the energy transition.
Additional information regarding Caterpillar’s corporate contributions, CATPAC contributions and trade association memberships is available on our political engagement website.
Our commitment to transparency and disclosure in our advocacy activities has long been recognized. As part of that commitment, numerous voluntary disclosures and links to filings related to our political engagements are provided on our website. Additionally, we have changed the reporting threshold for U.S. trade and industry association contributions. In previous years, Caterpillar reported membership contributions of $50,000 or more annually. For 2022, we reduced the threshold to $25,000. For 2023, we will report all U.S. trade and industry association memberships biannually. You can find this information and the percentage of 2022 membership dues used for federal lobbying as reported by each organization in the Lobbying Report.
1 Caterpillar’s participation as a member of any trade association comes with the understanding that we may not always agree with all of the positions of the organization or other members.
