Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit Michigan, a key swing state, on Monday to underscore substantial federal investments in manufacturing jobs. These investments have recently come under criticism from former President Donald Trump. The CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan initiative providing $54 billion to boost the semiconductor manufacturing sector, aims to revive an industry largely dominated by Taiwan, South Korea, and China.
Harris’s itinerary includes a visit to a Saginaw plant owned by Corning, which manufactures polysilicon for semiconductors and has received $325 million in CHIPS funding. Additionally, she plans to tour a union training facility in Macomb County, as stated by her campaign.
This visit occurs amid calls from some Democrats for Harris to place greater emphasis on economic issues as the campaign period nears its end. The CHIPS Act has facilitated significant expansions within the semiconductor industry, not only in Arizona, another battleground state, but also across other parts of the nation. According to the White House, initiatives funded by the CHIPS Act have contributed to the creation of over 115,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump expressed strong disapproval of the legislation during an interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. He criticized the legislation, claiming the subsidies were directed toward affluent companies and argued that tariffs could have been used to encourage more companies to establish facilities in the United States.