Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech on economic policy in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
Her remarks came as a new poll showed Harris neck and neck with former President Donald Trump in the 2024 race for the White House.
In her remarks to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, Harris said she will focus on growing America’s middle class.
Harris’s speech outlined the three pillars of her “Opportunity Economy.”
Pillar 1: Lowering Costs
Harris pledged to lower costs for middle-class Americans.
“More than 100 million Americans will get a middle-class tax break” if she is elected to the White House, Harris said. This would include a $6,000 tax credit for new parents in the first year of their child’s life, cutting the costs of child care and elder care, and giving all working people access to paid leave.
Harris also pledged to take on corporate landlords who hike rental prices, to work with builders and developers on building some three million housing units, to assist first-time homebuyers with $25,000 in down payment assistance, and to tackle price gouging.
Pillar 2: Investing in American Innovation
Harris proposed a substantial boost to the tax deductions that new small businesses can use on their startup expenses, pledging to raise it from $5,000 to $50,000.
She also vowed low or no-interest loans for American businesses that want to expand, and said that her administration plans to make filing taxes for businesses “cheaper and easier.”
Pillar 3: America’s Industrial Strength
Harris pledged to invest in U.S. biomanufacturing and aerospace, vowed that the United States would remain dominant in emerging technologies, and promised to expand America’s lead in “clean energy innovation and manufacturing.”
“Let’s eliminate degree requirements while increasing skills development,” Harris said as she promised to double the number of registered apprenticeships by the end of her first term.
While discussing the importance of maintaining America’s competitiveness, Harris said she would “never sell out America to our competitors or adversaries.”
Trump Campaigns in North Carolina
Trump also focused on his economic policies as he rallied supporters in the battleground state of North Carolina on Wednesday.
The 45th president held a rally in Mint Hill, telling supporters that he wouldn’t permit taxes on Social Security for seniors “who have been devastated by inflation.”
Trump also said he wants to bring jobs back to the United States.
This comes after the former president delivered remarks earlier this week that focused on U.S. manufacturing. He doubled down on his plan to impose sweeping tariffs on America’s trade antagonists as part of his plans to create the “manufacturing renaissance” outlined in a speech in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday.
Trump promised to place a 100-percent tariff on every car imported into the United States from Mexico if he is reelected to a second term in the White House.
Trump has called for lowering the corporate tax rate from 21 to 15 percent for companies that make products in the United States. He has also criticized Harris for her proposal to raise the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent.
The former president previously suggested that those taxes would ultimately trickle down to benefit middle- and working-class Americans.