Kamala Harris planned Monday to highlight how government funding for computer chip manufacturers could create factory jobs in the electoral battleground of Michigan, just days after Donald Trump criticized the bipartisan 2022 law that provides the money and said he would rather just charge tariffs.
The Democratic vice president was scheduled to visit Saginaw County to tour a Hemlock Semiconductor factory. Last week, the Commerce Department said the company would receive up to 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 factory would add 180 factory jobs in Michigan.
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 Texas with Beyonce , 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 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 of the world's most advanced computer chips, up from 0 when the Biden-Harris administration succeeded Trump's presidency.
