ICYMI: In Tacoma, Senator Murray Visits Lollar Pickups & Guitar Repair, Talks Tariff Impacts on Small Businesses in Washington State

Washington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce

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Tacoma, WA - U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Lollar Pickups and Guitar Repair, a local, independent business in Tacoma that handcrafts guitar pickups and ships them all across the world. Senator Murray met with Jason Lollar, Founder of Lollar Pickups & Guitar Repair; Stephanie Lollar, Founder of Lollar Pickups & Guitar Repair; Austin Patterson, General Manager of Lollar Pickups & Guitar Repair; Terra Myers, Administrative Manager of Lollar Pickups & Guitar Repair; and Kevin Moe, Production Manager of Lollar Pickups & Guitar Repair.

Lollar Pickups and Guitar Repair specializes in the manufacturing of pickups for electric and steel guitars and basses, and they create custom parts for a global customer base. They sell their products to guitar builders, guitar players, and music stores all over the world. They have recently had several high-value orders put on hold due to tariffs. Their guitar pickups are made of magnets and wire, and they purchase their magnets from an American company that produces them in China. One of the only companies that makes magnets in the U.S. sources their materials from China. At the height of the tariffs, their incoming order of magnets had a 145% tariff applied and they were told that they were lucky to have gotten it shipped before the Chinese government banned the sale of rare earth minerals to the U.S. Many of Lollar's vendors who manufacture in the U.S. buy materials from elsewhere, mainly from China, Germany, and Canada. Lollar Pickups and Guitar Repair is a small company and supports 29 families. Between current events and the rising costs of managing a small business, it's getting tougher for them to run their business and provide for their employees in the way they feel a company should.

"It was important to visit and hear from the workers at Lollar Pickups and Guitar Repair, who are proving that we can make products right here in America, and we make them better than anywhere else. It is incredible how they have reached an international market and put Tacoma on the map. Lollar Pickups and Guitar Repair isn't just contributing to our local economy but also furthering our state's rich music history," said Senator Murray. "I have been hearing from businesses across the state about how they are being hurt by tariffs and how they want an end to Trump's reckless trade wars. Trump loves to say his tariffs are about improving American manufacturing-but he's doing the opposite. They are making it harder and more expensive for businesses like Lollar to build their incredible products! His tariffs are harming local manufacturing right here in Tacoma. I'll be using my voice and my vote to put an end to these tariffs, and to keep standing up for small businesses."

Washington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with 40 percent of jobs in the state tied to international commerce. In 2024, Washington exported $57.8 billion of goods to the world, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), making Washington state the 9^th largest state exporter of goods last year. Washington state is also the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries-all of which risk losing vital export markets due to retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners, including Canada.

Senator Murray has been vocal in responding to Trump's trade war, holding events in every part of Washington state, and hammering the Trump administration for driving up the cost of just about everything through their chaotic and thoughtless trade policies. When Trump first announced new tariffs, Senator Murray brought together leaders across Washington state to discuss how Trump's trade war threatens Washington state's economy, and spoke out on the Senate floor against Trump's chaotic trade war, calling on Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in reasserting Congress's power over trade. She has held several events across Washington state to hear directly from constituents and small business owners about how Trump's tariffs are harming them-including in Tacoma, Yakima, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagit County, and Blaine, just across the border from Canada.

On August 1^st, as Trump hiked "reciprocal" tariffs on some of our closest trading partners, Senator Murray held another virtual press conference with Washington state businesses to sound the alarm. She held another roundtable with small business owners in Vancouver in September, and slammed Trump for the new port fees that had been hitting ships at West Coast ports as a result of Trump's trade war with China. In November, Senator Murray released a statement criticizing Trump's tariffs and calling on Republicans to step up to put an end to them after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legality of Trump's disastrous tariffs. In December at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing, Senator Murray grilled U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on how President Trump's trade war with Canada is hurting Washington state businesses and consumers. Also in December, Senator Murray responded to a new report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee which found that Trump's tariffs on Canada and trade war provocations with our neighbor and close ally have led to a steep drop in Canadian tourism that is harming American businesses in Washington state and other states along the United States-Canada border. In February, Senator Murray applauded the Supreme Court's decision ruling against Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose tariffs.

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