Their differences become glaring when they’re laid out next to each other.
A Donald Trump presidency would look a lot different than Kamala Harris’s when it comes to the automotive industry. That’s probably pretty obvious to most of you given their individual track records, but the differences become even more glaring when they’re laid out next to each other. Thankfully for us, Automotive News did just that.
It’s widely expected that Harris’ auto policies will be very similar to President Joe Biden’s – including stricter tailpipe emission standards, infrastructure investments and strong union support. Trump has previously said that the Biden Administration is driving away American jobs and ruining the U.S. auto industry as a whole. He’ll most likely keep this tone when talking about Harris.
Union support has been a cornerstone of Biden’s political identity. The incumbent, who labels himself “the most pro-union president in history,” won the endorsement of the UAW after becoming the first U.S. president to join a picket line during the 12th day of the union’s strike against the Detroit 3.
The UAW, in a statement July 21, commended Biden’s decision to “pass the torch” to the next generation of leaders and celebrated his record of supporting union labor. The union did not explicitly endorse Harris, but noted its commitment to defeating Trump.
“The path forward is clear: We will defeat Donald Trump and his billionaire agenda and elect a champion for the working class to the highest office in this country,” the statement said.
On July 22, Fain said on MSNBC that the union would hold discussions about potentially endorsing Harris and making the announcement “as we deem fit,” according to AutoNews.
UAW leadership has repeatedly criticized Trump, calling him anti-union and a “scab.”
Trump, subsequently, called for the firing of UAW President Shawn Fain during the Republican National Convention on July 18, saying the union was allowing jobs to be sent overseas.
“The leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately and every single autoworker, union and nonunion, should be voting for Donald Trump because we’re going to bring back car manufacturing and we’re going to bring it back fast,” Trump said at the convention.
Harris would likely inherit Biden’s union support if she were to get the nomination, experts say. Harris has joined picket lines and has worked closely with national unions as vice president.
Biden made the electric vehicle transition and climate change priorities for his administration, with production incentives and EV tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act and rules to limit tailpipe emissions from the EPA.
Trump has repeatedly criticized those policies, calling them an EV mandate and saying they would eliminate domestic jobs and give advantages to China.
“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1, thereby saving the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now, and saving U.S. customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car,” Trump said at the convention.
The Biden administration does not formally mandate EV production, but instead regulates tailpipe emissions and corporate average fuel economy standards that limit greenhouse gas emissions and encourage vehicle efficiency. Under the Biden administration’s EPA, EVs are estimated to make up 30 to 56 percent of light-vehicle sales in the 2030-32 model years.
If elected, Trump has vowed to undo “every one” of Biden’s climate policies designed to promote the transition to renewable energy.
It’s expected that Harris will inherit most of Biden’s policy goals and will possibly take them even further. We’ve previously reported how Harris has been early to environmentally friendly legislation like the Green New Deal, which she co-sponsored in 2019.
She has also – famously – called for the electrification of school busses and proposed a carbon tax during her campaign in 2020.
When asked if Harris would back some of the more ambitious climate policies she supported as a senator, a Biden-Harris climate adviser told the New York Times that she would focus on implementing the climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, from which she cast the tie-breaking vote.
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