Trump Restarts Campaign with Economic Speech in Detroit

Trump proposes reduction in corporate taxes to 15%, about a third of the total of federal and state rates, the highest in the world. The number of personal income tax brackets would be reduced from seven to three – 12%, 25%, and 33%, as proposed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Special tax provisions for hedge funds would be eliminated, and families would be allowed to deduct the average cost of child care; the death tax would be eliminated. Corporations would be taxed only 10% on fund repatriated from abroad.

Trump endorsed the charge by Bernie Sanders that Clinton had used bad judgment with respect to international trade. Trump listed the Clintons’ support for NAFTA, admission of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO), a trade agreement with South Korea that cost jobs rather than adding them. He warned that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the next deal to be enacted if Clinton is elected and that this will be a “disaster for Detroit” while benefiting Clinton donors and special interests.

A seven-point trade plan would address currency manipulation, cheating on import rules, renegotiation of NAFTA, environmental and labor conditions, and intellectual property violations Trump said have cost millions of American jobs. He declared it would be “so simple” to change trade practices, but he emphasized that “Isolation is not an option.”

Regarding energy, Trump accused Obama and Clinton of conducting a “War on Coal” that has cost 50,000 jobs. He attacked the administration for adding 400 regulations that each cost the economy at least $100 million. Trump promised a temporary moratorium on new regulations similar to one adopted in Indiana under the leadership of is running mate, Mike Pence.

Trump concluded with promises to reform education by promoting school choice, repeal Obamacare and reclaim two million jobs, get allies to pay more for their defense, and reform the Veterans Administration. He predicted that, “Detroit will coming roaring back,” but only if the nation takes a new direction and ceases relying on the rhetoric and failed policies of the past.