Donald Trump on Friday slammed a Biden-era accomplishment that aims to use government powers to revitalize the semiconductor industry, telling podcaster Joe Rogan "that chips deal is so bad."
Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign then launched an effort to remind voters that billions from that 2022 legislation cited by Trump are headed to swing states — specifically Michigan and Arizona.
On Monday Harris swung by a Michigan facility run by a company that is set to receive $325 million from the law, formally known at the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
Of Trump's remarks and the law, Harris said after a tour of the plant, "That's billions of dollars investing in just the kind of work that is happening here."
She added to the assembled workers that "you are a source of my optimism."
The vice president met with workers and toured Corning Inc.’s (GLW) Hemlock Semiconductor facility, located near Saginaw, alongside Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee and Corning chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris tours the Hemlock semiconductor next-generation finishing facility in Hemlock, Mich., on Monday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) ·ASSOCIATED PRESS
A running divide between Harris and Trump
This back-and-forth between Harris and Trump is just the latest example of a divide between the two candidates, who both express a fervent desire to spur manufacturing but offer very different ways to accomplish it.
Harris has pinned her re-industrialization strategy on using government levers to encourage specific sectors. It's an approach that uses Biden-era accomplishments like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, new green energy credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act as models.
She also reiterated this approach Monday, telling reporters traveling with her that "my plan includes what we will do to continue to invest in American-based industry, American manufacturing, and American workers."
Former President Trump, by contrast, has said that a combination of new protective tariffs alongside other measures like lower corporate taxes and fewer regulations is the better means to spur factory building.
"When I see us paying a lot of money to have people build chips, that's not the way," Trump told Rogan. "You didn't have to put up $0.10, you could have done it with a series of tariffs."
Allies of Harris have long pointed to a boom in US factory construction under Biden, which was absent under Trump, as evidence that their approach is best.
In his remarks, Trump also mischaracterized many aspects of the 2022 law. He suggested that the bill offers loans (the main program offers grants) and implied that companies aren't putting up their own money.
In fact, many of the grants are predicated on company investments; the Commerce Department said that $36 billion in proposed funding so far has helped catalyze over $400 billion in investments from the companies themselves.
Trump also somewhat confusingly said, "They're not going to give us the good companies anyway," when nearly every major global chipmaker, from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) to Intel (INTC) to Samsung (005930.KS) to Micron (MU), has received notifications of billion-dollar-plus awards.
New semiconductor 'fabs' in key swing states
But perhaps the most relevant detail for the Harris campaign this week, at least, is how many of these companies are setting up camp in politically important states.
The crucial swing state of Arizona, where the latest polls show a slim Trump lead, has positioned itself as a leader in the large US attempt to regrow a domestic chips manufacturing industry, with factories from both TSMC and Intel in the works around Phoenix.
Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who helped write and pass the bill, was quick to slam Trump's comment in a statement Saturday, saying, "Donald Trump wants to throw thousands of Arizonans out of work, kneecap our state's economic future, and replace these critical investments with tariffs that will raise the costs of families by almost $4,000 ... a year."
Likewise, Michigan, where Harris traveled Monday, was a trip in part to visit a smaller manufacturer there that makes materials for semiconductors.
"Bravo, this is fantastic," Harris said during her tour — of both the process of making polysilicon and an expansion planned in solar wafer manufacturing happening at the Saginaw site.
This combination photo shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and podcast host Joe Rogan. (AP Photo) ·ASSOCIATED PRESS
"Polysilicon is the bedrock of semiconductors, and it's important we have a reliable source of this material to manufacture the chips that help support our economic and national security," Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said recently in announcing the award.
All told, according to the Commerce Department, the chips manufacturing program is expected to help create over 125,000 jobs and has spread funding across 20 states so far.
That means Trump's comments could also reverberate in states like Ohio (where Intel is also setting up shop) and Texas (Samsung) that aren't in the presidential map but have crucial Senate contests.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
Every Friday, Yahoo Finance's Rachelle Akuffo, Rick Newman, and Ben Werschkul bring you a unique look at how U.S. policy and government affects your bottom line on Capitol Gains. Watch or listen to Capitol Gains on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
