PITTSBURGH—Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are offering competing visions for the U.S. economy, aiming to gain an advantage on a central concern for voters.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, will outline her approach to the nation’s economy and the steps she would take to promote domestic manufacturing in a Wednesday address from Pittsburgh, a traditional cradle of industrial manufacturing.
Trump, the Republican contender, offered his economic prescriptions in a speech Tuesday in Savannah, Ga., vowing to implement large tariffs against China and slash the corporate tax rate. “This new American industrialism will create millions and millions of jobs,” he said.
Harris has sought to blunt Trump’s advantage with voters on the economy ahead of the start of early voting in battleground states—and some polls have shown the former president’s edge slipping. Her speech will aim to draw contrasts with Trump, who presided over a strong economy before the Covid-19 pandemic and has put forward populist initiatives such as eliminating federal taxes on tips and overtime wages, along with tax cuts.
A senior Harris campaign official said the vice president, in the speech at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, would note that as a capitalist she understands government’s limitations and that she would describe her economic philosophy as pragmatic while expressing a willingness to seek practical solutions and not be “bound by ideology.”
Harris has said she would pursue what she calls an “opportunity economy,” and the official said she would describe key pillars such as lowering costs, investing in American innovation and leading the world in industries of the future.
Harris has proposed several policy initiatives since claiming the party’s nomination during the summer, including a plan to provide first-time home buyers $25,000 to help with down payments and a $6,000 tax credit for families with newborns. The official said Harris would discuss “new proposals for how she would make sure America leads the world in manufacturing in the industries of the future.”
Harris told reporters following a Sunday campaign event that her Pittsburgh speech would serve as an outline for her “vision for the economy,” adding, “in short form, it is about what we can do more to invest in the aspirations and ambitions of the American people while addressing the challenges that they face.”
Ahead of her speech, Democrats described Trump’s plans to increase tariffs on foreign countries as a tax on American workers that would create unintended consequences for the economy, citing his announcement this week that he would slap new tariffs on farm equipment maker John Deere. Trump said he would impose a 200% tariff on Deere if it sold made-in-Mexico equipment previously made in the U.S.
“He doesn’t think these things through,” said billionaire Mark Cuban, who is supporting Harris. “I want a president that thinks before he speaks or she speaks. I want a president—that for business—goes into details and has a policy team that understands all the ramifications of what is being proposed.”
Part of Harris’s address is expected to compare her proposals with Trump’s economic plans and make the argument that the former president would focus his attention on cutting tax rates for corporations and the wealthiest Americans.
“For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors,” Harris plans to say, according to her campaign official.
Write to Ken Thomas at ken.thomas@wsj.com