Where Trump, Harris stand on the economy, wages, and taxes
The election is a few months away as Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are laying out their economic agendas in a competitive election race.
One of the big election issues voters are paying attention to heading into November is the economy.
As Harris and Trump gradually offer more details about their economic proposals, here is what they are saying.
Issue: Economy
What Trump has said
The Republican presidential candidate's economic policy primarily focuses on raising tariffs on imported goods. He is promoting a plan for a 60% tariff on all Chinese imports while imposing a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports to protect the nation's manufacturing workers while improving the trade gap in the U.S.
To address the nation's housing issue, Trump has shared ideas for lowering housing costs — including his suggestion in a June speech in Wisconsin that stopping illegal immigration would reduce demand for housing and bring down prices.
During his first presidential term, Trump passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act in 2017, but it expires in 2025. The law slashed corporate tax rates and changed how the nation taxes businesses in the U.S. while temporarily cutting personal income and estate taxes, changes that benefitted wealthy people and businesses.
What Harris has said
Harris announced a set of economic proposals that includes building homes, cutting taxes, and lowering the cost of groceries, and other basic needs for people.
With the issue of housing costs affecting the nation, the vice president debuted a new ad amplifying her plan to build 3 million new homes over four years to manage inflationary pressures.
Harris is also proposing the government provide $25,000 in assistance to first-time homebuyers.
According to the Associated Press, the vice president's plan would establish tax breaks for homebuilders focused on first-time buyers and expand existing incentives for companies that construct rental housing.
The AP reported that with local zoning limiting the supply of houses, Haris would double the available funding to $40 billion to encourage local governments to remove the regulations that prevent extra construction.
Issue: Inflation
What Trump has said
Trump has called for cutting taxes and regulations in hopes of lowering inflation and has encouraged increasing oil production in order to lower energy prices, Forbes noted. He has also called for ending taxes on Social Security benefits and touted cutting energy and electricity costs in the U.S. by increasing the production of fossil fuels.
What Harris has said
The vice president promoted a plan calling for a federal ban on price gouging by food producers and grocery stores, as part of her overall economic policy, to ease inflation and lower the cost of living during a North Carolina rally on August 16.
Harris' grocery pricing proposal would instruct the Federal Trade Commission to penalize "big corporations" involved in price spikes, and it singles out a lack of competition in the meat-packing industry for driving up meat prices.
The annual inflation rate for the United States was 2.9% for the 12 months ending July, compared to the previous rate increase of 3%, according to Department of Labor data published on August 14, 2024.
Issue: Wages
What Trump has said
Donald Trump wants to make tips tax-free under a new proposal, although specifics of how the plan will work are unknown. Trump also promised to eliminate taxes on tipped income, but this would require approval by Congress.
Trump announced his plan during a June 9 rally in Nevada, a key battleground state with six electoral votes in the race for the White House.
He has not explained whether he wants to exempt tips from just income taxes or the payroll tax too. The payroll tax funds Medicare and Social Security, the AP noted.
For workers, a general exemption may mean more take-home pay. And for the federal government, it could mean bigger budget deficits.
What Harris has said
Harris called for raising the minimum wage in a Las Vegas speech in early August, but her campaign has not specified how high she believes it should be raised.
The vice president promised to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant and other service industry employees, similar to Trump.
Harris' campaign told the Associated Press that if she is elected president, she would work with Congress to draft a proposal that includes an income limit and other terms to keep hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to try to take advantage of the policy. Harris also would push for the proposal alongside one to increase the federal minimum wage.
Issue: Taxes
What Trump has said
Trump proposed to extend the 2017 tax cuts that he signed into law, when he was president, which will expire at the end of 2025. That package slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and doubled the standard deduction and child tax credit, the Associated Press reported.
These parts will remain until a new law is implemented, but other tax cuts in the former president's package will end without action by Congress. Trump told the AP that he wants to trim the corporate tax rate to 15% and cancel any tax hikes that happened under President Joe Biden.
What Harris has said
Harris promised to work with states to eliminate $7 billion of medical debt for up to 3 million qualifying Americans and plans to push Congress to make permanent a $3,600-per-child tax credit approved through 2025 for eligible families.
The AP reported that Harris also wants to offer a new $6,000 tax credit for those with newborn children and cut taxes for frontline workers and on healthcare plans offered on the marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act.
Harris told the AP that her administration will expand tax credits for first-time homebuyers, while endorsing steeper taxes on corporations. That last part is like Biden, who proposed raising the corporate tax rate to 28% and the corporate minimum tax to 21% to bring in more money to invest in Americans.
According to the AP, the current corporate rate is 21% and the corporate minimum, raised under the Inflation Reduction Act, is at 15% for organizations making over $1 billion a year. Harris has called for restoring the child tax credit that was passed under the 2021 COVID-19 relief package, but has since expired.
