Trump Takes Aim at Global Competition: Vows to Slash Corporate Tax by 6% to Keep Pace with Korea

▶ Speech to the D-10 presidential election in Michigan, a battleground state… “Gone are the days of protecting foreign lands.”

Former President Trump campaigning in Michigan [로이터]

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, said on the 26th, “We have to compete with Japan, China, and Korea,” and said that in order to create a business-friendly environment, when he took office, he raised corporate taxes for companies that met the ‘domestic production’ requirement. We reaffirmed our pledge to cut it by 6%.

Former President Trump said at a rally held in Michigan, a battleground state for the presidential election, that day, “If we raise the corporate tax rate to 70%, all the companies will leave, we will lose our jobs, and we will become a dead country.” “Because we also have to compete with Korea, what I want to do is lower (corporate tax) from 21% to 15%,” he said.

However, former President Trump said he would provide a corporate tax cut to 15% with the caveat that ‘only companies that make products in the United States and employ American workers’.

Former President Trump’s remarks about competing with Korea, China, and Japan in the economic sphere are in part a reference to the essence of national relations, which is unlimited competition for national interests. However, it is interpreted as a reaffirmation of the will to choose ‘America First’, which is different from the current Biden administration, which has strengthened security and economic solidarity with allies such as Korea and Japan amid strategic competition between the United States and China.

Former President Trump also said, “After years of helping other countries build nations, establish borders, and protect foreign lands, we must build our own country, take care of our people, protect our borders, and protect our citizens.” “We will protect and permanently outlaw illegal immigration,” he said.

He also said, “People do not like gender reassignment surgery or men competing in women’s games. Kamala is trying to provide free gender reassignment surgery to prisoners and imprisoned illegal immigrants, and secretly changes children’s gender at school without parental consent or knowledge.” “I’m trying to give it to you,” he criticized. It was a remark that touched on the dissatisfaction of Republican supporters, especially evangelical Christians, with the expansion of sexual minority rights.

Meanwhile, at Trump’s rally that day, some Muslim figures from Michigan stood on the podium and expressed support for former President Trump. This can be interpreted as the result of former President Trump’s efforts to absorb Muslim voters who had abandoned their support for the Democratic Party in Michigan, a presidential battleground state.

Michigan, which has a relatively large Muslim population, is where the dissatisfaction of Arab Democratic Party supporters who were dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s pro-Israel policies was collectively expressed as civilian casualties increased significantly during the Gaza War.

Some Michigan Democratic Party supporters collectively raised issues with the Biden administration’s Middle East policy through the ‘No Candidate’ campaign during the Democratic presidential primary.

Meanwhile, former President Trump said of the appearance of top pop star Beyoncé at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris held in Houston the previous day, “She came out, spoke for a few minutes (without performing), and then left,” adding, “People at the scene were angry. He made harsh comments such as “I booed you.”