Consider this your election cheat sheet to find out what Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are promising to do as they vie for the nation’s highest office. Here’s where the candidates stand on top economic and personal finance issues.
Both presidential candidates want to lower prices and slow inflation, but whether a president can directly do so is less certain. Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, has already slowed to 2.4%, well off its pandemic-fueled peak.
Trump:
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Place tariffs on imports. Trump wants to place a 10% to 20% tariff on all foreign imports; up to 60% tariff on imports from China; and 100% to 200% imports on automobiles produced in Mexico. He says his tariffs would support U.S. manufacturing and raise revenue. But experts from all over the political spectrum say that his tariff plan is more likely to increase prices in the U.S.
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Lower gas prices. Trump has pledged to increase oil and gas production on federal lands. The president’s ability to lower gas prices is limited as the price at the pump is more directly influenced by global market forces.
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Weaken the power of the Federal Reserve. Trump says he wants to bring the Federal Reserve under the power of the president; experts say it could weaken the central bank’s credibility in making interest rate decisions.
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Cap credit card interest rates at around 10%. The average credit card interest rate is 21.51%, according to Federal Reserve data from May 2024. It…
