Donald Trump has revealed the most aggressive side yet of his economic agenda, saying he will take manufacturing jobs from foreign countries, including China and U.S. allies, if he wins the election in November.
Speaking at a meeting in Savannah, Georgia - one of the biggest ports and auto manufacturing hubs in the United States (U.S.), Trump opened a new front in his election campaign. “Under my leadership, we are going to take other countries jobs. Did you ever hear that expression before? Have you ever heard that we are going to take other countries jobs? It's never been stated before. We're going to take their factories”, the 78-year old Republican presidential candidate said.
He added, “We're going to bring thousands and thousands of businesses and trillions of dollars in wealth back to the good old USA. That's what we're going to be doing it and doing it fast.”
With U.S. presidential elections less than six weeks away, the Republican election machinery has shifted gears towards offering the American voter a more substantive economic policy. According to a report, Trump was leading his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris in economic matters till July. The tide has, however shifted, especially in the aftermath of the presidential debate on September 10, with Trump trailing Harris.
Trump’s economic promises are targeting the high cost of living and jobs, which according to opinion polls are the top issues for Americans.
At the meeting in Savannah, Trump had more money matters on his agenda. In a policy closely resembling the ‘Make in India’ vision of the Narendra Modi government, he promised massive incentives to foreign companies to relocate their manufacturing base to the U.S.
“I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here. I want to beat China in electronics production and we'll be able to do that easily. We have the greatest genius, the greatest minds here, and then we end up building them in different places”, Trump said.
He claimed that a lot of companies had left the U.S. because of “stupid tax policies” and said he wanted GE, IBM and every other manufacturer that left the U.S. to be “filled with regret and come sprinting back to our shores”.
This is what Trump has on offer – “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. It all goes away if you don't make your product here.”
A day earlier, Trump had also wielding the stick, threatening The 187-year-old agri equipment manufacturer John Deere with crippling tariffs if the company moved a part of its production to Mexico. “They think they're going to make product cheaper in Mexico and then sell it in for the same price as they did before. Make a lot of money by getting rid of our labour and our jobs”, said Trump, warning, “I love the company. I'm just notifying John Deere right now: if you do that, we're putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States so that if I win, John Deere is going to be paying a 200%.”
Kamala Harris is expected to make a big economic splash on September 25 with a major speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Democratic think tank is expected to target the middle-class, ensuring they do not lose their recently gained advantage on Donald Trump.