US elections: Harris calls chip workers in Michigan 'source of optimism'

Kamala Harris has emphasised how government funding for computer chip manufacturers could create factory jobs in the electoral battleground of Michigan, days after Donald Trump criticised the bipartisan 2022 law that provides the money and said he would rather just charge tariffs.

The Democratic vice president visited Saginaw County to tour a Hemlock Semiconductor factory. Last week, the Commerce Department said the company would receive up to USD 325 million in direct support to build a new factory making hyper-pure polysilicon, a building block for electronics and solar panels, among other technologies. The new facility would add 180 factory jobs in Michigan.

Harris met with workers as she toured the factory and spoke about American leadership to a small audience before she departed for her next appearance in the state.

The vice president said the United States has a tradition of taking pride in its leadership in many areas, but cannot rest on tradition and must keep pushing forward.

We have to constantly be on top of what is happening, what is current, and investing in industries of the future as well as honouring the traditions and the industries that have built up America's economy," she said. "And what you all are doing here is exactly that.

Harris noted that the work requires a high level of skill and told the workers she would be talking about them because what they are doing is "a source of my optimism.

In addition to Monday's focus on manufacturing, Harris has used the closing days of the election to press multiple messages with diverse groups of voters.

For Black and Latino men, she has played up forgivable loans for small businesses, among other economic policies. At a Friday rally in Houston with Beyonc, she stressed for women her support for abortion rights. And hanging over all of that, Harris has said she believes Trump is a fascist and a threat to democracy.

As of August, the CHIPS and Science Act had provided USD 30 billion in support for 23 projects in 15 states that would add 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, according to the Commerce Department. That funding helped to draw in private capital and would enable the United States to produce 30 per cent of the world's most advanced computer chips, up from 0 per cent when the Biden-Harris administration succeeded Trump's presidency.

Still, Trump attacked the policy in a Friday night interview recorded for The Joe Rogan Experience," a popular podcast.

We put up billions of dollars for rich companies to come in and borrow the money and build chip companies here, and they're not going to give us the good companies anyway," the Republican nominee told the podcast. In fact, the money has gone to industry leaders such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung, Micron, Intel and GlobalFoundries to open factories in the US.

Trump said he would instead hike tariffs on foreign-made computer chips, saying that the financial penalties would cause companies to relocate to the United States.

You tariff it so high that they will come and build their chips companies for nothing, the former president said.

Most economists have said that tariffs would contribute to rising inflation. Higher prices on computer chips could add to the costs of autos, kitchen appliances, phones and other goods. US consumers experienced that previously coming out of the pandemic because of a global computer chip shortage.

The Census Bureau said the annual rate of spending on factory construction in August was USD 238 billion, up from USD 74.8 billion in August 2020 when Trump was in the White House.

On Monday, Harris will also tour a union training facility in Michigan's Macomb County and hold a rally in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan and a large pool of college graduates, an increasingly large Democratic constituency.

Harris will be joined in Ann Arbor by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The rally will also feature singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers. In the closing stretch, the campaign is holding a series of events that double as rallies and concerts to turn out the vote both via early ballots and on Election Day.

The campaign hopes the performing artists will be trusted voices who can mobilise people to vote.