Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an election event in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, September 20, 2024.
Jim Vondruska | Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to unveil a new campaign plan focused on boosting U.S. manufacturing during a speech at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh on Wednesday, campaign officials said.
The proposal is part of a broader effort to position Harris as a partner to the business community, rather than an adversary, said the official, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the speech, which has not yet been made public.
Harris’ speech will outline a “pragmatic” economic philosophy that is not “ideologically bound” but is rooted in an understanding of capitalism, innovation and the limits of government, the official said.
The vice president will likely try to present openness to the private sector as a means to expand the middle class, which has so far been a focus of her new economic policy.
The speech will be a direct counter to attacks by her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, who has sought to portray Harris as a “far-left Democratic candidate” and a threat to the US economy.
“Four more years of Kamala Harris as president will deindustrialize America and ruin the country,” Trump said at an event in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday, where he also announced new manufacturing proposals.
In a speech in Georgia, Trump said that if elected to a second term, he would expand research and development tax credits, appoint dedicated “manufacturing ambassadors,” impose tough tariffs on imports and encourage domestic production.
Harris also plans to highlight her middle-class upbringing and political background in her rebuttal on Wednesday, campaign officials said.
Harris will also use her two terms as California’s attorney general, where she worked with companies to address privacy concerns about early mobile apps, to leverage her work as vice president to increase capital for local banks and small businesses.
Read more politics coverage from CNBC
For much of the eight-week presidential campaign, Harris’ economic policies aligned closely with those of President Joe Biden.
Harris has focused on reducing the costs of food, housing and child care, accusing American companies of “price gouging” — manipulating and inflating consumer prices so that they far exceed producer costs, resulting in soaring profit margins that have no connection to productivity.
In August, Harris went so far as to propose a federal ban on so-called price gouging in the food and grocery sector.
But the idea was roundly criticized by economists across the political spectrum, who argued that there was little evidence that corporate price manipulation was the main cause of rising prices.
In recent weeks, Harris has softened her rhetoric toward American companies.
For example, last Wednesday, in a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Harris condemned price gouging but was quick to clarify that only a handful of companies actually engage in it.
“Some businesses — and there are a very small number — are inflating prices and making it even harder for people in need to get by,” Harris said.
Wednesday’s speech could be the latest step in a shift in Harris’ tone, with fewer Biden-style scoldings of corporations and more emphasis on industrial policy goals.
But campaign officials said Harris would also make clear that she would “not be afraid to hold bad actors accountable if necessary.”
With just 41 days until Election Day and voters in several states already casting their ballots early, Harris’ campaign sees the Pittsburgh speech as an opportunity to further chip away at Trump’s long-standing advantage among voters on the economy.
Recent polls suggest that Harris’ efforts on this front are already paying off.
A Financial Times/Michigan Ross poll of 1,002 voters conducted in September found Harris leading Trump by just 2 percentage points on economic policy.
The poll was conducted two days after the first presidential debate between Harris and Trump on September 10.
Harris’ slim two-point lead, within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, reflects her catching up with her Republican opponent.
Several other quality polls conducted after the debate, including those by AP-NORC, NBC News and Fox News, showed Harris’ approval rating on the economy narrowing Trump’s lead by double digits.
