Former President Donald Trump set out plans he said would bring back jobs from abroad to American industry and reward hard-working Americans in an opinion column in Newsweek ahead of the election.
Trump is in a neck-and-neck race with Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the November 5 election, with polls showing that the economy is the top issue for most voters, and that Harris has closed the gap on Trump on the question of who would be most proficient in handling it.
“When I am president, we will begin to take other countries’ jobs and factories, bringing businesses and trillions of dollars back to the United States,” Trump wrote.
“Under my plan, American workers will no longer be worried about losing their jobs to foreign nations. Instead, foreign nations will be worried about losing their jobs to Americans.”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he arrives at Valdosta Regional Airport to visit areas affected by Hurricane Helene on September 30, 2024 in Valdosta, Georgia.Trump has set out plans he said would bring jobs back from abroad to American industry and reward hard working Americans in an opinion column in Newsweek ahead of the election.
Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Trump said corporate taxes would be cut to 15 percent from 21 percent, but only for businesses that make products in America. If companies don’t take the deal, they would have to pay tariffs on products shipped from abroad, said Trump, whose first term was characterized by growing global trade tensions—particularly with manufacturing powerhouse and superpower rival China.
Trump made clear he wasn’t only targeting China, saying that “German car companies can become American car companies,” in a reference to America’s NATO ally.
“We will cut energy and electricity prices in half within 12 months—not just for businesses but for all Americans and their families, and we will quickly double our electricity capacity, which we need to do to compete with China and other countries on Artificial Intelligence,” Trump said. “With the lowest energy prices on earth, we will attract energy-hungry industries from all over the planet and millions of blue-collar jobs.”
Special zones with ultra-low taxes and regulations would be set up, and a manufacturing ambassador would set out to get major manufacturers to move to America.
Newsweek contacted the Harris campaign for comment outside of business hours.
Narrowing Gap
Since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate, Harris has set out plans to lower the cost of everyday goods and create what she terms an “opportunity economy” that favors the middle class. Polls show her narrowing the gap on the economy.
The Echelon Insights national survey of 1,005 registered voters from September 23-25 gave Harris 47 percent and Trump 45 percent on the question of whom they trusted to deliver on jobs and the economy. The results had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
Trump also set out plans to deport immigrants who have entered the United States illegally—with immigration being another top issue for voters and one on which Trump polls consistently better than Harris. Opponents of illegal immigration say that immigrants are taking the jobs of American workers and depressing their wages.
“We will also remove millions of illegal immigrants from this country. These migrants are taking jobs from American workers and driving down their wages, especially African American and Hispanic workers. Our agenda will always prioritize American workers making good wages,” Trump wrote.
A Pew survey in late September showed that more than half of registered voters favored mass deportations of immigrants living in the country illegally. However, opinions were highly polarized; the idea was supported by 88 percent of Trump supporters but only 27 percent of those backing Harris.
Recent crackdowns on the southern border and limited deportations have started to have an impact on the numbers of unauthorized immigrants, but those figures soared under the Biden-Harris administration. Some 3.2 million encounters were recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2023 compared to 1.4 million in 2019, the highest number during Trump’s previous presidency.
“If Vice President Harris gets four more years, this time as president, she will de-industrialize the United States and destroy our country. We will become a Banana Republic. There will be no car industry, no steel industry, no significant manufacturing of any kind—and we will be at risk of military defeat,” Trump said.
