Donald Trump pledged a fresh round of tax cuts if he wins the presidency, following up on legislation passed during his term in the White House that reduced levies on businesses and some households.
"You're all getting the biggest tax cuts because we're doing additional cuts and a brand new Trump economic boom like you've never seen before," Trump said at a rally in South Carolina on Friday, a day before the state's primary.
Trump said that he would make sure that "tariffs on foreign countries go up" and that "taxes on American workers and families will come down very substantially." Trump has considered a range of tariff plans, including a 10% across-the-board tax on imported goods and considerably higher levels on products from China. Economists have warned that the cost of these tariffs are generally borne by consumers.
Trump and his allies have been privately weighing how to address taxes in a second term. Many of the measures in his 2017 tax cut law affecting households and small businesses expire at the end of 2025 and will require Congress to renew or deepen them.
Trump's tax cut was widely criticized for giving more tax benefits to wealthy individuals, real estate investors and business owners than middle and low-income households. Polls show the law was highly unpopular and aided Democrats in flipping the House in the 2018 midterm elections, winning a majority that helped stymie many of the former president's policies in Washington.
Trump has privately told allies he prefers to keep the corporate tax rate at 21%, instead of lowering it to 15%, a rate he pushed while he was president which generated opposition from both Republicans and Democrats.
Trump's tax cut policies have helped him maintain the support of some business groups, donors and voters who have objected to his stances on other policy issues or his divisive tone.
The former president's operation aims to wrap up the nomination next month, allowing him to pivot his focus to a general election rematch with President Joe Biden and his court cases, one of which is set to begin trial March 25.
