Kamala Harris Talks ‘Industrial Strength’ And Leading in Future Manufacturing Sectors

Kamala Harris Talks ‘Industrial Strength’ And Leading in Future Manufacturing Sectors

Kamala Harris spoke for 45 minutes at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh on Wednesday where she spent some of that time talking about industrial strength, and how a weakened manufacturing base is bad for the country’s prosperity.  This time, despite going after her opponent’s economic policies for what she equates to a middle class tax increase, Harris never mentioned the word “tariff” once. She also hinted that she will be protective of the industries of the future, especially the clean technology industries that are driving much of the Democratic Party’s decarbonization drive.

“We will invest in aerospace and remain dominant in AI, quantum computing and blockchain and expand our lead in clean energy technology and manufacturing so that the next generation of breakthroughs from advanced batteries to advanced nuclear are not just invented here but built here in America, by American workers,” Harris said.

The speech was light on attacks, about equal to the amount of attacks Trump did on her this week during a 90 minute speech in Savannah, GA.  This time, Harris gave some policy specifics and made growing the middle class, new small businesses, and apprenticeships part of her economic targets for year one.

“The most practical thing we can do right now is cut taxes for middle class families and individuals and that is what we will do,” she said. “That will include a $6,000 tax break for new parents for the first year of their child’s life.” She also said she wanted to increase the tax deduction for startups, currently at just $5,000 she said, and bring the deduction to $50,000. Much of this would depend on whether Congress would support such a plan, of course. But if Democrats gain control of the House and keep the Senate, she will sign that tax cut into law.

One of the recurring themes in American history is that when we make an intentional effort to invest in our industrial strength, it leads to extraordinary prosperity not for years, but for generations. Think of Alexander Hamilton who had the foresight to build the manufacturing base of our country; and Lincoln with the transcontinental railroad, or Kennedy and the space race which spurred innovation across our society. Our economic strength has been tied to our industrial strength and the same is true today. So I will recommit the nation to global leadership in the sectors that will define the next century.

Harris promised to be “pragmatic” and recognized in her speech the disparities that have taken place in the U.S. under free trade policies that benefited large, multinationals.  She said that she was in favor of free and fair trade, but again reiterated her desire for pragmatism, with a dose of prosecutorial toughness garnered from the olden days as California’s Attorney General in 2011.

“I will never sell out America to our adversaries or our competitors,” she said. “I will make sure we have the strongest economy and the most lethal fighting force anywhere in the world.”

Harris also spoke of the need to get faster permitting, suggesting she may be interested in unleashing some of the regulatory burdens to build new factories. Here, she did not get into specifics, nor did she mention environmental regulations.

“We must build the industries of the future, but we must build them faster,” she said. “There is a time to be patient and there is a time to be impatient. I don’t want to get all Ecclesiastical here, but it’s true that it takes too long to build here. Projects take too long to go from concept to reality; it happens in blue states and it happens in red states,” she said, adding: “China is not moving slowly. We cannot afford to either if we are to compete. As president, if things are not going quickly I will get involved and work with businesses, community groups and local leaders to cut red tape and get things moving faster.”

Harris likened her mindset on tackling the socio-economic problems of the day to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. “I promise I will be pragmatic and do what FDR called bold, persistent, experimentation because I believe we shouldn’t be constrained by ideology,” Harris said. “We should seek practical, realistic solutions to our problems.”

MADE IN AMERICA.

CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.

The latest CPA news and updates, delivered every Friday.

WATCH: WE ARE CPA

Get the latest in CPA news, industry analysis, opinion, and updates from Team CPA.