Donald Trump says he will make the nation a “manufacturing powerhouse” by adopting protectionist tax policies that promote domestic production and encourage businesses to move their operations to the United States.
At a rally Tuesday in Georgia, the former president said the centerpiece of his economic plan is to reduce the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but solely for businesses that make their products in the United States.
He said he would expand business tax credits, slap tariffs on imports from Chinese and other foreign-owned companies, reduce energy and electric costs, and appoint a “manufacturing ambassador” to persuade manufacturers to return to the United States.
“I will give you the lowest taxes, the lowest energy costs, the lowest regulatory burden and free access to the best and biggest market on the planet, but only if you make your product here in America,” Mr. Trump told his audience in Savannah. “It all goes away if you don’t make your product here.”
“For years, we watch other countries steal our jobs,” he said. “Now we are going to be going after their jobs and bringing them back to America where they belong.”
Mr. Trump’s pursuit of tariffs has alarmed some economists and his critics, who say they could add to inflation and amount to a tax on American consumers.
“It’s a national sales tax that would raise costs for every American,” businessman Mark Cuban said Tuesday on a conference call organized by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Proponents of tariffs say the levy can generate revenue for the government, protect domestic industries and serve as a foreign policy tool.
Vice President Kamala Harris will lay out her economic vision in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Mr. Trump plans to hold a campaign event in Mint Hill, North Carolina.
With just over 40 days from Election Day and early voting underway in some states, the economy is voters’ chief concern, including among the small pool of undecided voters who could swing battleground states such as Georgia.
Mr. Trump warned that Ms. Harris wants to raise business taxes to 28% and will pursue policies that will accelerate the demise of domestic manufacturing.
On Monday, Mr. Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on John Deere imports if the company follows through on its plan to shift some of its production to Mexico.
Before Mr. Trump’s event, the Harris campaign held a conference call with reporters. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the net result of Mr. Trump’s plan is “you have made it cheaper for Chinese manufacturers to compete with John Deere.”
He noted that Mr. Trump has vowed a 10% across-the-board tariff on all imports into the U.S., which would be far lower than his John Deere proposal.
“In a nutshell, the vice president and her team think through her policies,” Mr. Cuban said. “That is the antithesis of what Donald Trump is doing. He says things off the top of his head that tend to be ridiculous if not insane.”
A New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters showed Mr. Trump with a 4-percentage-point edge over Ms. Harris in Georgia. Roughly 15% of voters described themselves as undecided or not definitely decided.
Joseph R. Biden defeated Mr. Trump in Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020, the first time a Democrat had carried Georgia in a presidential election since 1992.
Georgia has turned into a battleground in recent election cycles.
Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock won both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats — and with them, the Senate majority — in the early January 2021 runoff races that played out after Mr. Trump cast doubt over his election loss and as his supporters stormed the Capitol to try to force Congress to not certify Mr. Biden’s victory.
Mr. Warnock, who had won a special election to fill out the term of the late Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, defeated Trump-backed Republican Hershel Walker in the 2022 election, securing a full six-year term in the upper chamber.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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