Trump says he’ll make interest on car loans tax deductible if domestically built

By James Oliphant, Kanishka Singh

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would make interest on car loans fully tax deductible for cars built in the United States, in his latest economic incentive to woo voters just two weeks ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

KEY QUOTES

“I will make interest on car loans fully tax deductible,” Trump said in remarks at a rally in North Carolina. “I am only going to do it if they build that particular product – namely an automobile – in the United States,” the former president said.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris face each other in what polls show to be a tight race. Both Trump and Harris have in recent weeks made economic pledges to woo voters.

Harris has said she will aim to pass a middle-class tax cut, while Trump has advocated cutting taxes on overtime pay. Both candidates have supported eliminating taxes on tips.

Any such changes to the tax code would be subject to passage of a law by Congress.

CONTEXT

The plan on car loans – to treat interest paid on vehicle loans like the deduction for interest on home mortgages on federal tax returns – is the latest in a long string of potential tax cuts the former U.S. president has floated recently.

Trump has proposed using such incentives that aim at preventing Chinese automakers from selling vehicles in the United States in the final weeks of election campaigning as he appeals to autoworkers.