When it comes to international corporate interest, American tax dollars are extremely well spent. The US State Department, Military, and to a degree, Intelligence Agencies do everything they can to compel favorable treatment for large American companies from every other country.

I guess it's possible that large companies have outgrown the need for US Government support internationally and figure its cheaper and more effective to lobby the leadership of countries directly. The problem is that this approach opens up Western nations to a new form of neo-colonialism. When Western "democracies" are controlled by large corporations, the door is open for the state-owned companies of China or Saudi Arabia to acquire these companies, and thus, their influence over Western nations.