Others have hired firms to lobby against the trade actions. Apex Tool Group, which manufactures hand and power tools and opposesthe tariffs aimed at punishing China, recently hiredSandler, Travis & Rosenbergto work on the issue. Vista Outdoor, which also opposes the tariffs, hired Sorini, Samet & Associatesto lobby.

Rather than drain the swamp, as Trump promised on the campaign trail, the uncertainty surrounding his administration hasprovided new avenues for Beltway lobby shops to fill their coffers.

But lobbyists are nonetheless struggling to sway White House decisions, or even predict them. They again risked looking feckless when the Trump administration said Thursday it would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

“It’s become very frustrating to the business community that the president is resistant to our advice,” said David French, the top lobbyist for the National Retail Federation. “We keep digging around in the manure, and we hope to find a strategy somewhere.”

The demand for trade insight has resulted in some unusual contracts. Borusan Mannesmann, a Turkish steel pipe manufacturer, hired former New York Gov. George Pataki in March to lobby the Commerce Department on its behalf. The company shelled out $75,000 to Pataki’s firm in the first quarter, even though Pataki, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, only lobbied for about a week during that period.

The usual strategy to influence an administration involves pressuring allies in Congress, who can then offer advice to the White House, lobbyists said. And they have found Democrats and Republicans in Congress about as sympathetic as usual to their clients’ trade concerns.

But Trump, who promised a tough trade agenda during his 2016 campaign, has ignored warnings from House Speaker Paul Ryan and others in his own party who say the tariffs will do more harm than good.

“Normally, on trade issues you go to the Hill, you gin up your allies, and the administration tends to be very mindful of their own party about what they’re saying about the impact,” said Stewart Verdery, a longtime Republican lobbyist who works on trade issues for Amazon, Microsoft, Shell Oil Company and others. “In this case, that doesn’t seem to be working.”

Lobbyists’ efforts to work the administration directly haven’t proved much more successful. One trade lobbyist said his clients had met with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Gary Cohn, who served as Trump’s top economic adviser before resigning in March. None of it made any difference.

“I don’t see any path forward other than legislation, honestly,” the lobbyist said.

Much of the lobbying work so far has focused on trying to win exemptions from the steel and aluminum tariffs, which the Commerce Department can approve. Ross said in May the agency had received nearly 9,000 requests for product exclusions from the tariffs, and that number has almost certainly increased in the weeks since.

At the time, about 2,200 requests were awaiting responses from the agency. The Commerce Department has yet to approve any product exemptions.

Other companies are pressing the administration not to add products to a list of Chinese goods subject to tariffs, which is still being compiled and is expected to be released June 15.

Far from dissuading corporate America from employing lobbyists, Trump’s tariff announcement Thursday and the retaliatory steps expected from Canada, Mexico and the European Union are likely to boost business even further.

“I think business will definitely trend upward,” said Aaron Cutler, a lobbyist at Hogan Lovells who’s lobbied on the steel tariffs for the pipeline giant Kinder Morgan.

“We’re in the third inning of a potentially very long game,” John Stipicevic, a former top aide to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) who’s now a lobbyist for CGCN Group, wrote in an email. “Some of these announcements are all about gaining leverage in ongoing negotiations.”

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs last week on a range of products from the U.S., including chocolate, sailboats, whiskey and orange juice as well as U.S. steel and aluminum. Those industries could ramp up their lobbying in response.

In addition to Trump’s unwillingness to take advice from the free-trade establishment in his party, another obstacle for lobbyists is the internal chaos within the White House. One Republican lobbyist said the trade issue “blew up” when former staff secretary Rob Porter resigned amid allegations of domestic abuse. Since Porter left, the White House economic team’s infighting has grownincreasingly public and bitter.

The lobbyist described Porter as the “trade coordinator” and said he helped to moderate White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who supports the tariffs. “There’s nobody there to fight with him at that level,” the lobbyist said.

Cohn, another big moderating force on trade, left recently as well.

Lobbyists said another challenge is that, given that the tariffs are not expected to go away any time soon, they must guide clients through the Commerce Department’s process for obtaining exemptions. But several lobbyists said the agency is understaffed and overwhelmed with product-exclusion requests.

Frank Samolis, co-chair of Squire Patton Boggs’ international trade practice, described requests for exclusions from the tariffs as more of a legal proceeding than a lobbying activity.

“I don’t think this process is amenable to outside pressure from members of Congress,” Samolis said. “You don’t need a lobbyist, you need a lawyer.”