Trump, Harris offer conflicting visions for auto industry in debate

WASHINGTON — Tuesday's presidential debate turned to a key issue in battleground Michigan as the candidates shared competing visions for how to keep the auto industry strong.

Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, in response to a question about climate change, said that "part of building a clean energy economy includes investing in American-made products, American automobiles.

"It includes growing what we can do around American manufacturing and opening up auto plants, not closing them like happened under Donald Trump," Harris added.

Harris also touted her endorsement from the Detroit-based United Auto Workers union and its president, Shawn Fain, who has vowed to vigorously support the vice president's White House bid.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, countered by saying the Biden administration "lost 10,000 manufacturing jobs this last month."

"It's going, they're all leaving," Trump said of domestic automakers.

Trump also contended China is building auto plants in Mexico with plans of flooding the U.S. market with cheap vehicles.

"We'll put tariffs on those cars so they can't come into our country, because they will kill the United Auto Workers and any auto worker, whether it's in Detroit or South Carolina or any other place," the former president said.

Those responses showed a stark contrast between Harris' affirmative plans to continue subsidizing American manufacturing and the auto industry as it shifts towards electric vehicles and Trump's focus on stoking fears that such a shift could cost blue-collar jobs. The exchange didn't occur until about 90 minutes into the debate, but it highlighted one of the most important topics for voters in the industrial Midwest.

Trump's claim that manufacturing jobs have dipped in the last month is true, but the broader picture of the sector is more positive since Democratic President Joe Biden took office — and somewhat mixed for automotive manufacturing in the Great Lakes State.

There were about 13 million manufacturing jobs nationally in January 2024, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was the highest mark since November 2008 at the tail end of a decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing.

For autos in Michigan specifically, the number of vehicle and parts manufacturing jobs has declined somewhat under Biden and Harris. There were about 166,000 such jobs in January 2021, declining to roughly 162,000 in July 2024, federal labor data show.

Trump and his allies have suggested that auto jobs will decline dramatically as a result of Biden-Harris policies related to EVs, while Harris and her campaign have said that legislative efforts like the multi-billion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act will keep jobs and facilitate growth in Michigan's signature industry.

One IRA-backed initiative, for example, pledges up to $500 million for General Motors Co. to convert its Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant to producing EVs from producing internal combustion engine cars. That will support the retention of more than 650 jobs and create 50 news ones, according to a project description from the Biden-Harris administration.

Trump, at times, has vowed to repeal some aspects of the sweeping climate and manufacturing package — like its expanded $7,500 tax credit on EVs — though he has more recently shied away from details, according to reporting from Politico. It is unclear if he would try to end the flow of federal dollars to Michigan to encourage EV production and purchasing in the state.

Harris herself has avoided discussing EVs since launching her campaign in July. The emerging technology remains unpopular among Michigan consumers and unprofitable for Detroit automakers Ford Motor Co., Stellantis NV and GM.

Republicans have made it a point to hammer that issue in Michigan. Trump and others repeatedly attacked "EV mandates," a common GOP refrain referring to the web of incentives and punitive regulations from the Biden-Harris administration that push the auto industry toward electrification of more cars, trucks and vans.

Trump didn't mention EV mandates during Tuesday night's televised debate.

That shift, most industry experts agree, is inevitable and will occur globally.

On the topic of tariffs and Mexico, Trump's debate comments referenced plans by Chinese EV juggernaut BYD Auto to build its vehicles in Mexico. Many have speculated that the Chinese automaker is doing so to eventually sell cars in the United States, though the company has denied the notion.

Though the Republican nominee has promised to stop the flow of Chinese vehicles into the country, he has on several occasions said he is open to Chinese companies manufacturing and selling their cars in the United States.

Biden slapped high new tariffs on Chinese EVs earlier this year and has similarly committed to stopping such vehicles from entering the U.S. through Mexico — likely by closing a loophole in the Trump-era United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade deal when it goes up for a scheduled review in 2026.

Trump has been critical of EVs and policies supporting them through much of his 2024 campaign, though he's softened his rhetoric about them recently as an option for consumers — perhaps in light of the relationship he's developed with Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, of Birmingham, called out Trump on Tuesday night for his debate remarks and past comments about EVs. Stevens said his message on the topic amounts to "fearmongering" over job losses and that the former president is "talking out both sides of his mouth."

"One one hand, he's saying that EVs are never going to succeed, and on the other he's saying that China is going to flood our market with cheap electric vehicles, and everyone's going to buy them. So which one is it?" the three-term congresswoman said in a post-debate interview with The Detroit News.

Stevens continued: "Why can't our automakers succeed? Why can't we have a commander-in-chief who wants to partner with industry and usher in proven industrial policy to win the future in a collaborative, public-private partnership model? That is what Kamala Harris is articulating. That is what she stands for."

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also went after Trump. "The last time he was in office, Michigan lost 289,000 jobs thanks to his agenda, leaving auto workers behind as the supply chain went overseas. We know how bad he was for Michigan and we cannot let him drag us backwards," Whitmer said in a post-debate statement.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, of White Lake Township, by contrast, evoked the auto jobs in bashing Harris.

"Where under Harris and Slotkin our families are living paycheck to paycheck, fentanyl kills our children, and EV mandates drive away our jobs, President Trump had America thriving," Rogers said in a post-debate statement, referencing his general election opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly.

The former seven-term congressman added: "The actions of Kamala and Slotkin have sent our nation down the wrong track, but President Trump will reverse their disaster and have the backs of all Michiganders.”

As voters weigh the candidates' Tuesday performances and their stances on key Michigan issues, small shifts resulting from the debate could have a significant impact on the fast-approaching election. A Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll released on September 3 showed that Michigan voters were almost evenly split on Harris and Trump some three weeks before absentee voting begins.

“Elections are always close in Michigan," Gov. Whitmer noted, "and this year is no different."

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