Former President Donald Trump has proposed an ambitious plan to encourage foreign companies to manufacture in the US.
As the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, Trump suggested a 15% corporate tax rate, reduced regulations, and access to federal land and port infrastructure for foreign businesses.
However, a critical condition would be for these companies to hire American workers and relocate their manufacturing facilities to the US.
“For years, Americans have watched as our country was stripped of jobs and wealth, and our companies were sold off to foreign countries. It’s been a horror show,” Trump, 78, said. He vowed to “take other countries’ jobs” and attract their factories, promising an economic resurgence.
Trump’s plan includes creating special federal zones with ultra-low taxes and streamlined environmental approvals to encourage foreign businesses to set up shop in the US. He also pledged to appoint a “Manufacturing Ambassador” to help bring industries to America.
The former president aimed at Vice President Kamala Harris, criticising her support for the Green New Deal and federal spending policies, which he claimed would hurt industries like automotive and steel manufacturing. Under Harris’s financial plan, Trump warned that the US would face economic and military setbacks.
“If they don’t agree to the deal,” Trump said, “we will impose a 100% tariff on foreign cars crossing the Mexican border, pushing companies to relocate manufacturing to the US.”
Trump assured that his policies would revive the US auto industry, promising a return to the industry’s glory days. “It’ll be like it was 50 years ago,” he said, predicting that American-made cars would become “bigger, better, more beautiful, stronger, and faster.”
At the event, Trump also reiterated his commitment to blocking major companies like US Steel and John Deere from moving operations overseas, threatening steep tariffs on any products they attempt to sell back into the US if they relocate abroad.
Revenue from his economic plan, Trump said, would generate “trillions” of dollars, with Americans seeing benefits within two years. The speech in Savannah, which spotlighted the city’s major port, concluded with Trump promising to further develop the state’s infrastructure and deepen the port for increased shipping capacity.
“We’ll work with your governor to get that done quickly,” Trump told the crowd.
