Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, National Economic Council (NEC) Director Dr. Kevin Hassett, and Ambassador Jamieson Greer (USTR) demanding they provide their plan to mitigate the economic stress caused by the implementation of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other executive actions. The Senator especially expressed concern about these efforts and their harms to the Nevada, and broader U.S., travel and tourism industry.
Nevada is one of the top five states most visited by international travelers, and the industry makes up nearly 16 percent of the state’s economy, generating $23.6 billion in total income. As of 2024, more than 300,000 Nevadans are employed by our tourism industry, including more than 60,000 union members.
“Among the Trump Administration’s unclear executive orders, actual and threatened executive actions, and the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), there has been no transparency about the negative impacts these actions will have on the United States,” wrote the Senator. “These efforts have resulted in damaging trade policies, frozen federal funding, a gutted federal workforce, and have extended Presidential authority beyond legal limits, all creating real consequences for working families, small businesses, and industries. I cannot stress enough the need for the Trump Administration to seriously consider the devastating impacts your actions are having on our nation’s tourism economy.”
Cortez Masto listed a handful of policies that are having a detrimental impact on the tourism industry, including:
- the threats and application of tariffs to nations including America’s allies;
- the increasingly aggressive – and questionably legal – procedures being utilized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
- the freezing or eliminating of federal funding supporting transportation infrastructure, National Parks, and cultural sites;
- and the firing of employees across the federal government.
“Because of the lack of transparency regarding the negative impacts of the Trump Administration’s actions, I am writing to underscore a concern about these efforts and their harm on our nation’s travel and tourism sector, request information on how you are mitigating the economic stress, and offer solutions,” continued the Senator. “It is a fact that the travel industry is seeing a noticeable decrease in room bookings, business travel, and recreational visits from both domestic and international travel. This sector is fundamental to my home state of Nevada and its hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women who work in events, entertainment, and hospitality.”
The travel and tourism industry represents 2.5 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product and supports over 15 million American jobs. Travel experts estimate the number of people arriving to the U.S. from abroad to decline by 9.4% in 2025 and travel spending to fall 12.3%, resulting in a $22 billion annual loss nationally. The domestic travel industry has seen devastating impacts as well – in February, U.S. consumer spending on air travel dropped 10 percent and spending on hotels dropped 6 percent relative to a year ago.
Read the full letter here.
Senator Cortez Masto has continued to push the Trump Administration to address the impacts of Trump’s tariffs on working families. Earlier today, during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Cortez Masto pressed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about the impacts of President Trump’s blanket tariffs on Nevadans, particularly those employed in the tourism and hospitality industry. Earlier this month, the Senator introduced the Tariff Transparency Act to require the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate how Donald Trump’s recent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will impact the American people and make that information public. Senator Cortez Masto also wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Hegseth and Secretary of Treasury Bessent demanding answers on the national security impacts on President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.
###