Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign trip to Hemlock Semiconductor in Hemlock, Michigan on October 28, 2024.
Evelyn HochsteinReuter
Vice President Kamala Harris made manufacturing the center of her final message to former President Donald Trump in the battleground state. michigan on monday.
“When he was president, he sold advanced chips to China and supported their plans to modernize their military,” Harris said of her Republican opponent. hemlock semiconductor Manufacturing center located in Saginaw County.
“It’s not about what’s best for the security and prosperity of the United States, and those two things should be the top priorities for the president of the United States,” she added.
Just a week before the Nov. 5 election, Ms. Harris’ manufacturing-focused trip is the latest to cut into Mr. Trump’s approval ratings for the state’s economy, which has become a hub for America’s emerging industries. It was one of those opportunities. semiconductor And electric cars.
Prior to his remarks, the Democratic presidential candidate toured Hemlock Semiconductor’s facility, which recently received a $325 million investment from the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act.
“Billions of dollars are being invested in efforts like what’s being done here,” Harris said, touting the CHIPS Act, which President Trump has criticized. “We created a tax credit to create an incentive for the private sector to take on this effort.”
October on CNBC American Economic Survey It found that 46% of respondents nationwide said Trump was better for their local economy, while 38% said the same about Harris. This difference exceeds the poll’s margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
In particular, the poll found that Trump maintained a similar 8-point lead in battleground states, also outside the 4.0-point margin of error.
The Michigan trip is part of a week-long rampage by the Harris campaign across battleground states. On Sunday, the vice president will visit Pennsylvania, and on Wednesday and Thursday he is scheduled to visit North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada.
After speaking at Hemlock Semiconductor, Harris will tour the union’s training facility. She will then head to Ann Arbor for a rally with her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump have each promised a manufacturing boom under their hypothetical administration, but they have different ideas about how to make that happen.
President Trump has promised to repeal the Biden administration’s anti-inflation law and has attacked the CHIPS Act. Republican presidential candidates have proposed universal tariffs on all imported goods as a major strategy for domestic manufacturing.
“That tip deal was very bad,” President Trump said in an interview on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast on Friday. “All you had to do was charge them the tariff.”
Harris criticized this aggressive tariff approach, calling it the “Trump sales tax,” citing opinions from economists. estimate He argued that a blanket import tax would increase consumer prices.
On her side, Harris wants to boost manufacturing with a combination of tax credits and government subsidies for areas such as artificial intelligence, clean energy manufacturing, automotive, and semiconductors.
