WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, reiterated her opposition Wednesday to President Trump’s ongoing trade war, highlighting the concerns of Washington business leaders—including Dr. Ed Schweitzer, founder of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) in Pullman.
In a statement shared by Senator Murray, Schweitzer warned that tariffs planned under the Trump administration could cost SEL $100 million in unanticipated federal taxes next year.
“President Trump seems to have created the 51st state that he was talking about, which is the great state of uncertainty,” Schweitzer said. “And this is affecting all of us.”
Schweitzer said the projected tax burden, if divided across SEL’s 7,000 employee-owners worldwide, would amount to $14,000 per person.
He expressed strong support for congressional efforts to reclaim authority over tariff decisions. “I agree so much with Senator Murray that the best thing we can do is to support the efforts by Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate to restore congressional control over tariffs and block this President and future ones from abusing executive orders, especially here in the case of free trade,” Schweitzer said.
Senator Murray has long opposed what she calls a chaotic and harmful trade agenda under the Trump administration. She continues to call for bipartisan action in Congress to halt the trade war and restore the legislative branch’s constitutional role in setting tariff policy.
