Key Takeaways
- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump laid out his economic plans in a speech Thursday at the Economic Club of New York. He focused on cutting spending, increasing tariffs, and lowering taxes.
- Other plans included opening federal land for housing development and ending taxes on tips and Social Security payments.
- Trump’s proposals also included making the U.S. the cryptocurrency “world capital.”
Former President Donald Trump laid out some of his economic proposals on the campaign trail this week, focusing on increasing tariffs and cutting spending.
Speaking Thursday at the Economic Club of New York, the Republican presidential candidate outlined proposals focused on reducing regulations, increasing energy production, boosting tariffs, and cutting taxes, which he said would help bring down inflation and create jobs.
Trump on Tariffs
Tariffs on goods made in other countries were a major element of Trump’s economic plan, though he said he would later announce more specifics about the amount of tariffs he would pursue.
Trump said the domestic automobile industry, along with the American steel, aluminum, and defense industries, would benefit from the tariffs.
“A combination of fair trade, tax cuts, regulatory cuts and energy abundance will allow us to produce more goods, better and cheaper, right here in the U.S.A.,” Trump said.
In the past, Trump has proposed imposing tariffs of 60% or more on Chinese imports, as well as across-the-board tariffs of between 10% and 20%. Economists have said merchants would likely pass on any increased tariffs to consumers under that proposal.
Plan Boosts Energy Production, Cuts Regulations, Extends Tax Cuts
Another centerpiece of the proposal was to create a “government efficiency commission” to look for ways to reduce wasteful spending. Trump said he got the idea from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and would ask him to head the commission.
His plan to reduce regulations included eliminating 10 regulations for every new regulation introduced. Trump also pledged to make America the “world capital” for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, though offered no specific details on policy changes to enact that plan.
Trump also emphasized his plans to increase oil production, saying he would use emergency powers to push through new oil drilling, refinery construction, new power plants and other projects to increase output.
Another of Trump’s planks was to eliminate spending on the “Green New Deal” and take back unspent dollars set aside in the Inflation Reduction Act, which included funding for clean energy projects.
To encourage housing production, Trump said that if he was elected, the government would open up large tracts of federal land for housing development.
Trump said he would keep in place tax cuts set to expire in 2025. He also reiterated his plan to eliminate taxes on tips and on Social Security payments.