Nevada's congressional Democrats slam Trump tariffs over tourism toll, housing costs

Pedestrians pass by the Sahara hotel-casino Friday, Jan. 10, 2020. Photo by: Steve Marcus

Nevada’s five congressional Democrats are urging the Trump administration to end its global trade war, writing to President Donald Trump that his tariffs are severely undermining tourism to Las Vegas.

“We write to express our deep concern that your reckless and uncoordinated tariffs imposed on American allies and partners will have a destructive effect on the economy in our home state of Nevada,” Democratic U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, along with Democratic U.S. Reps. Steven Horsford, Susie Lee and Dina Titus wrote to Trump in a letter delivered this morning.

The Democrats emphasized that they don’t oppose tariffs in their entirety, just that they should be targeted at “our adversaries,” specifically China. The delegation also questioned Trump’s authority to issue blanket tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Last week, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump’s justification to use the law — that the U.S. has trade deficits with trade partners — was insufficient. A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the decision from going into effect as the case is further deliberated.

Visitation to Southern Nevada has lagged in comparison to 2024, with nearly 700,000 fewer people coming through Harry Reid International Airport over the first four months of 2025. Las Vegas’ tourism board recently cited “consumer uncertainty with evolving federal policies” as the reason for the decline.

Referring to travel experts estimating a 9.4% drop in international visitation across the country this year, the Nevada Democrats called the decline in travel a “direct consequence” of the trade war.

“Your administration’s tariff actions are already undermining Nevada’s tourism economy and, if not reversed, will have devastating impacts on the state’s entire economy in the years ahead,” they wrote.

They also wrote that Nevadans purchase more than $3 billion in goods from Mexico and Canada. Most of those imported goods are now subject to a 25% tariff imposed by Trump. That, along with the rest of Trump’s tariffs, may cost households thousands of dollars a year, according to a Yale University research center.

The increase in construction costs is especially damaging amid the state’s ongoing housing shortage, the Nevadans wrote. The state needs to build 23,000 new homes a year, and doing that requires lower costs for lumber, steel and aluminum, the delegation continued.

“Your administration’s sweeping tariffs will instead raise the cost for these essential items, exacerbating Nevada’s housing crisis by making it more expensive to build or purchase a home,” the lawmakers wrote.

Trump last week announced that he’d be doubling the tariff on foreign steel and aluminum to 50%, telling steelworkers in Pennsylvania that “with the help of patriots like you, we’re going to produce our own metal, unleash our own energy.”

“We are deeply concerned that in addition to thrusting the broader U.S. economy into a recession, your reckless tariff actions will specifically harm Nevada’s key industries, sharply raise costs on its hardworking families, and threaten its small businesses,” the Democratic delegation wrote.

The president has also pushed back on assertions from Wall Street that “Trump always chickens out” by lowering tariffs levied on goods from China and the White House pushing back when other tariffs will kick in.

“It’s called negotiation,” Trump said last week.