Former President Donald Trump trounced his Republican opponents in the first two 2024 Republican nominating contests, setting the course for a potential general election rematch with likely Democratic nominee President Joe Biden.
The decisive issue, according to polls, may prove to be the economy. Seventy-four percent of Americans say the economy is very important to them, making it the top concern among voters, an ABC News/Ipsos poll in November found.
Biden and Trump contrast sharply on topics that intimately affect everyday people’s finances, including taxes, jobs and trade. Neither candidates’ campaign responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
Here’s what to know about key economic proposals put forward by the rival presidential candidates:
Taxes
Biden has sought to raise taxes on wealthy people and some corporations in what he considers an effort to bring fairness to the tax code.
On the other hand, Trump appears poised to preserve or deepen tax cuts that he views as a catalyst for economic growth.
Trump is committed to extending the tax cuts signed into law during his first term when they begin to phase out in 2025, Stephen Moore, who served as an economic adviser to Trump and says he has helped shape Trump’s agenda for a possible second term, previously told ABC News
The administration may seek to cut taxes further but details of such a proposal remain uncertain, Moore said. “This is all in motion,” Moore added. “Nothing has been decided.”
By contrast, the Biden administration has proposed tax hikes for wealthy people and indicated a preference for allowing some of the Trump tax cuts to lapse.
For example, Biden could oversee the expiration of a 20% tax deduction for specific income generated at pass-through businesses, such as sole proprietorships, that file taxes through a personal owner. The move would effectively amount to a tax increase for those companies.
Targeting high-net worth individuals, meanwhile, Biden could impose a first-of-its kind wealth tax.
Last year, Biden proposed a 2024 tax plan that included a 25% tax on the wealth of individuals with a net worth exceeding $100 million. The plan, Biden said, would apply to 0.01% of Americans.
“I’m a capitalist, but pay your fair share,” Biden said in his State of the Union address last year.
The currently divided Congress may not pass such a tax hike but Biden could pursue it if granted a second term.
Trade
While the Biden campaign has not put forward an agenda for trade policy under a second term, his administration has so far taken up an aggressive posture toward some adversarial countries like China while reaching trade deals with others.
President Joe Biden speaks about funding for the I-535 Blatnik Bridge at Earth Rider Brewery on Jan. 25, 2024 in Superior, Wis.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Biden preserved the tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese imports, escalating the confrontation with China through additional measures, such as a ban on the export of advanced chips to the country.
On the other hand, the U.S. in recent years has reached trade agreements for some goods with neighboring countries Taiwan and Japan. In December, the Biden administration extended a suspension of Trump-era tariffs on steel and aluminum from Europe, but the White House has not established a permanent agreement to do away with the levy.
For his part, Trump plans to ratchet up the confrontational trade policy instituted during his first term, promising to impose tariffs on most imported goods.
Speaking with Fox Business in August, Trump said the tax on imported items could ultimately stand at 10%.
Trump also plans to tighten constraints on China-made products, including a “4-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods,” according to a set of proposals released in February.
Jobs and manufacturing
Both candidates tout their bona fides as job creators who nurture the growth of U.S. manufacturing. But they have carried out very different approaches to doing so.
The Trump campaign has presented its tariff policy as a means of protecting U.S. businesses, thereby ensuring a robust job market and a bolstered domestic supply chain.
“Trump wants jobs here in America,” Moore said. “He wants things made in America.”
The Biden administration, by contrast, has enacted federal legislation that brings investment to U.S. companies and in turn boosts the demand for workers.
Speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pointed to several measures signed into law by Biden that have brought investment to projects focused on infrastructure, computer chips and clean energy.
“These investments will fuel our economic growth and increase our economic security,” Yellen said.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Canada’s inflation rate fell to two per cent last month, finally hitting the Bank of Canada’s target after a tumultuous battle with skyrocketing price growth.
The annual inflation rate fell from 2.5 per cent in July to reach the lowest level since February 2021.
Statistics Canada’s consumer price index report on Tuesday attributed the slowdown in part to lower gasoline prices.
Clothing and footwear prices also decreased on a month-over-month basis, marking the first decline in the month of August since 1971 as retailers offered larger discounts to entice shoppers amid slowing demand.
The Bank of Canada’s preferred core measures of inflation, which strip out volatility in prices, also edged down in August.
The marked slowdown in price growth last month was steeper than the 2.1 per cent annual increase forecasters were expecting ahead of Tuesday’s release and will likely spark speculation of a larger interest rate cut next month from the Bank of Canada.
“Inflation remains unthreatening and the Bank of Canada should now focus on trying to stimulate the economy and halting the upward climb in the unemployment rate,” wrote CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.
Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist at BMO, said Tuesday’s figures “tilt the scales” slightly in favour of more aggressive cuts, though he noted the Bank of Canada will have one more inflation reading before its October rate announcement.
“If we get another big downside surprise, calls for a 50 basis-point cut will only grow louder,” wrote Reitzes in a client note.
The central bank began rapidly hiking interest rates in March 2022 in response to runaway inflation, which peaked at a whopping 8.1 per cent that summer.
The central bank increased its key lending rate to five per cent and held it at that level until June 2024, when it delivered its first rate cut in four years.
A combination of recovered global supply chains and high interest rates have helped cool price growth in Canada and around the world.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem recently signalled that the central bank is ready to increase the size of its interest rate cuts, if inflation or the economy slow by more than expected.
Its key lending rate currently stands at 4.25 per cent.
CIBC is forecasting the central bank will cut its key rate by two percentage points between now and the middle of next year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also expected on Wednesday to deliver its first interest rate cut in four years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
