“We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every car that comes across the border from Mexico,” Trump said in a speech in Georgia. “The only way you’re going to get out of that tariff is if you want to build a plant right here in the United States with you operating that plant.”
Trump has offered a series of incentives to encourage foreign companies to relocate to the United States if he wins the Nov. 5 election and promised to create special zones for manufacturing on federal lands.
The Republican presidential candidate said the incentives, which include low taxes and few regulations, would be offered only to companies that move manufacturing to the United States and hire American workers.
“I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here,” Trump said.
“The centerpiece of my (economic) plan is for a manufacturing renaissance,” he told an audience of cheering supporters.
Companies that do not manufacture their products in the United States, however, will face “a very substantial tariff” when they ship their products to the United States, he said.
Trump spoke in Savannah, which has one of the largest ports in the United States and is a center for automobile manufacturing.
Trump said he would reward U.S. manufacturers with tax breaks on research and development costs and the ability to write off heavy machinery in the first year.
He promised to appoint a global manufacturing ambassador to persuade foreign manufacturers to relocate to the United States.
On Monday, Trump had said he would impose a 200% tariff on John Deere DE.N imports if the farm equipment company moved production to Mexico as planned.
Preserving and creating American manufacturing jobs by imposing expansive tariffs on friends and foes alike has become a central theme of Trump’s economic message, especially in the final months of the race against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Harris, who polls show is in a tight race with Trump, is scheduled to unveil a set of new economic proposals in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Some of those proposals will be aimed at helping Americans build and maintain wealth, Reuters reported.
