Tuesday is when Donald Trump is likely to make a vow to seize factories and jobs from other countries in addition to discouraging U.S. companies from outsourcing.
Offering foreign corporations access to government land is one of the proposals he plans to promote. Earlier this month, he hinted at the proposal by suggesting a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but this would apply exclusively to companies who manufacture within the United States. Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent, is pushing to increase it to 28%. Upon becoming president in 2017, he signed a bill reducing the corporation rate, which had been 35%.
Economists have warned that American consumers would pay the price for tariffs and other Trump initiatives, such as launching the biggest deportation operation in U.S. history, but Trump has pressed Harris on the economy and suggested using tariffs on imports and other ways to help American industry.
Up until this point, Trump’s economic strategy has been focused on penalties for corporations who move their operations overseas. On Tuesday, though, he plans to spill the beans on what lures international businesses to the United States. Both the former president and officials of his administration are interested in directly courting international corporations.
A top Trump aide leaked drafts of Trump’s address, which the president has the option to revise.
Whether or whether some of the incentives he claims to implement as president would entice international firms is debatable. Additionally, the former president’s track record of successfully courting international investors was uneven while in office. For instance, Trump had hoped that electronics behemoth Foxconn of Taiwan would invest $10 billion in Wisconsin, thereby adding 13,000 new jobs. Foxconn, however, has failed to deliver on this promise.
It’s also unclear how a president could possibly grant these favors to foreign companies. There are limitations imposed by the Bureau of Land Management on foreign entities seeking to lease lands. Given Trump’s longstanding claims that China is harming American business, his campaign did not immediately address a question on Monday night on the potential exclusion of Chinese companies.
In Savannah, Georgia, home to one of the nation’s busiest ports for containerized freight, the Republican presidential candidate is expected to discuss this proposal.
This is Trump’s first visit to this swing state since his dispute with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp ended last month with the popular Georgia governor’s endorsement of Trump. Kemp had been critical of Trump throughout the campaign.
Several Republicans are worried that Georgia has become more politically charged in the two months since Vice President Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president following President Joe Biden’s decision to not seek reelection. In her address last Friday in Atlanta, Harris warned voters that, if elected president, Trump would keep abortion access limited and characterized Trump as a danger to women’s freedoms.
Later this week, JD Vance, who is running with Trump, will be visiting Macon and conducting a rally in Georgia.